
)i(j;s:iii)i^iiiBi(ii>;(wiww'y?''j%w ^ ' HifjiVfw' fc i w ' ^ *'■" *i » v>i i' « Ah < *ii »r vL ' i] i »»Mrtt »^w »j. > v ii ai/ii» i t» >>st'iKik 




■-;:', :< 



V '12 



- ...i**'/^ 






If-^ 



3. 



yjtM- ;s;'"':*±:lxj,i.>" 




Class _r:^ 2^ 

Book V_elA^r^ 

CojjyriglitN"^ 



COPVTOGHT DEPOSMi 




Dnybreiik in \oseiiiit*» Cniion. Vie«' from nic: Oak FInt lloail. a thousand tvvt 
al»ov4> til*' 114'rrffl KH'iT. Rriilal \'4>il Fall. iiioK^ than a mill' a^ay, KfeetN thf 
itKirniii;; ^vi:h its Nonu:: anil. f:ir heyf>nil. Sentinel Donit* t4»|>N the VANt south 
\>all of the \ alley. 



OTHER ILLUSTRATED BOOKS 
BY JOHN H. VVll.LIAMS 

'THE MOUNTAIN THAT WAS 'GOD'" 
'THE GUARDIANS OFTHE COLUMBIA" 



THE CANOE AND THE SADDLE' 

BV THEODORE WINTHROP 

to which are now first added his Western Letters 

AND Journals. Edited with an Introduction 

and Notes by John H. Williams. 



Here the glacier ground the stone, 

Here spake God and it was done ; 

Buttress, pinnacle and wall. 

River, forest, waterfall. 

And God's right hand over all. 

Hear the mountain torrents call, 

Swung colossal from the steep ; 

See them, wind-tossed, wave and sweep ; 

Hear them sound like harper's hands 

On the quivering granite strands, — 

Now with thunderous thud and moan. 

Now with giant undertone ; 

While the pine trees whisper Io\v, 

And the sunset's shadows slow 

Up the vast gnarled ridges go 

To the roseate far snow. 

— Rei: Joseph Cook: "Yoseinite." 



YOSEMITE 

and Its HIGH SIERRA 

By JOHN Hf WILLIAMS 

Author of "THE MOUNTAIN THAT WAS 'GOD'" 
"THE GUARDIANS OF THE COLUMBIA" etc. 



' ' There is no death; loi'e paid the debt; 
Tho' moons may luane and men forget. 
The mountain's heart beats on for aye; 
Who truly loT'ed us cannot die." 

And so I wait, nor fear the tide 
That comes so swiftly on to hide 
My little light. The mountains glow; 
I have their promise, and I know. 

— Richardson: "The Promise of the Sierra. 



SECOND EDITION, REVISED AND GKEATLV ENLARGED, 

WITH MORE THAN TWO HUNDRED AND 

FIFTY ILLUSTRATIONS. 



SAN FRANCISCO 

JOHN H. WILLIAMS 

1921 







■*\\ here the KnpiilK Itip niiil I(<>;ir.*' A tine eiiseiide <»n the 
McClure Fork ot the >lereed, heh»^v \ tif^elsani;; I'iinm. It 
has a flroi> of more thn.n ^ hiimlreil feet, nnd ivould be 
fniiioiiN for its beauty fihy.wliere else f hnn aiiildNt the Yo- 
.seniite I'nrk's creiit nrraj;' of ivat erf nils. 



COPVRIGHT. 1914, 1921. BY JOHN H. WILLIAMS 



JUN IAI92I 



)CI.A622112 





On the Summit of Clouds Rent. lookinjL;: Noutheast o%er Little Vo^emite to Mt. Clark and 
its fello«-peak« of the Meroed Group. 



THE SIERRA CLUB 

THIS VOLUME ABOUT A NOBLE REGION 
WHICH IT HAS LABORED TO CONSERVE AND MAKE ACCESSIBLE 
IS CORDIALLY DEDICATED 



Have you gazed on naked grandeur where there's 
nothing else to gaze on, 
Set pieces and drop-curtain scenes galore, 
Big mountains heaved to heaven, which the blinding 
sunsets blazon. 
Black caiions where the rapids rip and roar? 
***** 

Have you seen God in His splendors, heard the text 
that Nature renders,— 
You'll never hear it in the family pew, — 
The simple things, the true things, the silent men 
who do things? 
Then listen to the Wild — it's calling you. 

— Robert IV. Seriice. 




Starting for the \s<-rnt of >lt. I. yell. 




\orlli l*i>iiu*. Itii.^iil \rt-lir> ami \\ asliiiiu (on Inlninn. n4m>ii from 
the Iticroi'd Kiit'r. 'I'lie miioeiilrU* ioriiialiun In tlie uraiiit«s 
^vliii'li In cliiiriM-teriNtlf* nf the ^« hole ^ oseinite region. In 
u*>y\ here li«'tter nIio» n. The liiip(»Nliiu ari*hlteetiiral a.speet 
off thiw Kroup. as if It were the ruins of soiiie \ast, deeayiiiK 
medieval ealheilrul, \>ith 4Tiinil»llnu arehes and hrokeii eain- 
pniille. niukeM It one of the iiiONt IntereNtinu rtiek fentnreH 
ill A OMenilte \ alley. 




The Half Dome, ^vith f louds Re^t beyond. Vie^v from the OverhnnKinp: Roek at 4*l:ieler 
Point, nearly t^vo-thirds of a mile above the floor of A osemite A'alley. 



FOREWORD 



This new edition of "Yosemite and Its High Sierra" is much more than a reprint. 
The text has largely been rewritten, with regard to the increased facilities for visiting 
and exploring the Yosemite National Park, and to its fast-growing need for modern 
roads. An improved map of the Park showing roads, trails and landmarks; a road 
map showing approaches to the Park, and upwards of fifty new illustrations, have 
been added. Credit to each photographer is given in the table of illustrations on 
pp. 11-15. In expanding the fifth chapter, I aimed to give the reader some idea of 
the extent and beauty of the highland forests, with a representative collection of tree 
pictures, especially of the Sequoia tiiqantea. The final section, "Notes," offers sug- 
gestions for brief trips to the great features of the Valley and its immediate upland. 
This condensed guide I hope will prove helpful to the time-short visitor. 

I have felt it a duty of every lover of Yosemite Valley to protest against the 
impending ruin of its especial beauty through Congressional neglect. Since the cre- 
ation of this National Park thirty-one years ago, the Government has confined its 
provision for travel to and within the Park merely to taking over and maintaining 
inadequate roads built by private corporations. In most cases, these have not even 
been made fit for motor traffic. The need of roads out of the famous little Valley, 
which would lead the increasing throngs of summer vacationists to the broad and 
inviting upland near by, has long been urged upon Congress, but without result. 
This need became imperative when the Park Administration took the desirable step 
of admitting automobiles to the National Parks. Yosemite travel at once multiplied, 
and the already overcrowded state of the Valley is seen in Superintendent Lewis's 
report showing that room had to be found in the public camping grounds on the 
Valley floor last summer for twenty-five thousand campers. 

The State of California is soon to build the last link in a great highway, skirt- 
ing the Merced up from the hot San Joaquin country to Yosemite Village. This 
done, the tide of visitors will become an inundation, making Valley conditions unsani- 
tary and destructive, unless Congress acts without further delay. The thousands for 
whom Yosemite Valley would be unspeakably impoverished by the loss of its flower 
fields and the mutilation of its forests should ask of Congress the immediate adoption 
of Mr. Lewis's program for road betterments and construction in the Yosemite Park. 

This edition owes much to co-operation of Government representatives. Director 
Mather, of the National Park Service, kindly had the "Travel Guide Map" brought 



10 YOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 

up to date for reproduction here. Superintendent Lewis, of the Yosemite National 
Park, has responded to many calls for information. Messrs. Redington and Barrett, 
of the San Francisco office of the United States Forest Service, have enriched the book 
with photographs of many great trees, thus aiding me to show the important \ osemite 
forests more comprehensively, 1 think, than has hitherto been attempted. 1 am also 
deeph' indebted to Miss Elizabeth Keith Pond, of Berkeley, for her courtesy in sup- 
plying the splendid series of her brother's photographs of winter mountaineering in 
the High Sierra, and permitting me to quote from her own letter describing their 
capital adventures in February. 

Renewing the personal acknowledgments made in the "Foreword" of the previous 
edition, I quote therefrom the following paragraphs expressing my aim in this work: 

"The present addition to my series about the great mountains of the West will 
serve a happy purpose if it does no more than to gain new readers for the splendid 
books on Yosemite that have preceded it. One who follows in the footsteps of 
J. D. Whitney, Clarence King, Galen Clark, John Muir, and Smeaton Chase must 
needs enter upon his task with diffidence. Nevertheless, it is largely a new work that 
I have undertaken, namely, to describe and exhibit, not merely the famous Yosemite 
Valley, but the entire Yosemite National Park, so far as may be possible, by the aid 
of telling pictures. The field is so vast, its mountains, cations, lakes, waterfalls, and 
forests are so important and spectacular, that even the unprecedented number of illus- 
trations given here can only suggest its riches of wonder and beauty. In order to make 
room for the largest number of views, I have confined my text to those matters which 
persons visiting Yosemite for the first time may naturally wish to know, — an outline 
of the great physical features of the Yosemite country and their causes, the story of its 
native inhabitants and their worthy but pathetically hopeless fight to hold their alpine 
fastness, and the increasing facilities for the enjoyment of its renowned valleys and 
equally inviting highlands. I shall feel it no defect in this brief essay if among my 
readers some Oliver Twist may perchance ask for more! 

"The choosing of more than two hundred illustrations from many thousands of 
photographs involved no little labor. Much of the district was, until lately, very 
inadequately photographed. Yosemite Valley has long been the best illustrated scenic 
spot in America, but the wonderful High Sierra back of it has been surprisingly 
neglected by the professional photographers. Fortunately for this book, however, the 
large membership of the Sierra Club includes many expert amateurs, and the club's 
different expeditions into the mountains have produced a multitude of photographs 
that are equal to the best professional work. My first acknowledgment must there- 
fore be to the photographers among my fellow-members for the unanimity with which 
they have placed their negatives at my disposal Without such help, it would have 
been possible to show little more than the beaten paths of Yosemite Vaile\ and the 
Big Tree groves 

"This book is an acknowledgment of a long-standing debt to the Sierra. Years 
ago, while a resident of California, 1 became a lover of her mountains. It has since 
been my good fortune to study other great mountain districts, and to learn that each 
has its own special inspiration; but on returning to tiie Yosemite upland after a decade 
of absence, I have still found in its nobly sculptured heights and gentle valleys a 
peculiar and lasting charm possessed by no other wild landscape, American or Euro- 
pean, with which I am acquainted, — a mingling of sublimity and tenderness that should 
make it the joy of all Americans, and the best-guarded treasure of California." 

San Francisco, May 15, 1921. 




Lunoli Time on tlie Tiioliiinite, at the Sierra tl'luli's Camp near Socln Springs. 

CONTENTS. 

I. THE YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK 17 

II. THE CANON OF YOSEMITE 69 

III. ON THE CALIFORNIA SKY-LINE Ill 

IV. TUOLUMNE GRAND CANON AND HETCH HETCHY 139 

V. KINGS OF THE FOREST 159 

NOTES FOR YOSEMITE VISITORS: 

Roads, Trails, Brief Excursions 181 

Transportation 184 

Entertainment 185 

Automobiles 188 

Nature Guide Service 188 

Le Conte Memorial Lectures 188 

Yosemite Museum 189 

Yosemite Literature 190 

Photographs and Moving Pictures 191 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 

The * indicates halftones from copyrighted photographs. See notice of copyright 
ownership under the illustration. 

PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS. 
Title Photographer Page 

At the Gates of Yosemite 4 

Frontispiece in color, from painting by M. Valencia, after photograph by 
Pillsbury Picture Co. 

Dawn at Tenaya Lake H. C. Tibbitts 16 

First View of the Mt. Lyell Group Prof. Everett Shepardson 21 

Vast Glacial Basin of the Merced, viewed from Glacier Point J. T. Boysen 23 

Dana Mountain, seen from Tioga Lake H. E. Bailey 27 

Cathedral Peak and its Neighbors Francis P. Farquhar 29 

Western End of Yosemite, seen from Union Point . George Fiske 31 

El Capitan (east face) George Fiske 33 

Yosemite Valley, seen from Old Inspiration Point . Pillsbury Picture Co. 35 

Tuolumne Grand Caiion, from above Muir Gorge . . Walter LeRoy Huber 39 

Gates of Tenaya Canon in Winter George Fiske 41 

Mirror Lake, with Reflection of Mt. Watkins . . . Pillsbury Picture Co. 43 

Three Brothers H. C. Tibbitts 47 

Tenaya Lake, at the head of Tenaya Creek Canon . . J. T. Boysen 49 
"Gen. Grant" and "Gen. Sherman," with the "Four 

Guardsmen" H. C. Tibbitts 51 

The Domes in a Winter Storm Pillsbury Picture Co. 55 

Nightfall in Leevining Caiion, below Tioga Pass ... H. C. Tibbitts 63 

Banner Peak, Mt. Ritter, and the Minarets .... Walter LeRoy Huber 65 

Lake Tahoe Tavern Studio, Lake Tahoe 67 



12 



YOSEMH K AND US HIGH sh;rr.\ 



Title Photographer 

Overhansing Rock at Glacier Point George Fiske 

Bridal Veil Fall Pillsbury Picture Co. 

Cathedral Rocks and Spires Pillsbury Picture Co. 

Yosemite Falls : . . . Pillsbury Picture Co. 

*Illilouetle Fall Pillsbury Picture Co. 

Canon View of Vernal Fall Pillsbury Picture Co. 

Vernal Fall, from Clark's Point George Fiske 

Nevada Fall, seen from Zigzag Trail (Prottlei . . H. C. Tibbitts 

Nevada Fall, seen from North Wall of Canon (Froiiii . Pillsbury Picture Co. 

Lake Merced J. T. Boysen 

Tenaya Canon and the Half Dome, from Glacier Point George Fiske 

Jeffrey Pine on Sentinel Dome Pillsbury Picture Co. 

Evening Primroses and the Half Dome Pillsbury Picture Co. 

At the Foot of Fernandez Pass and Gale Peak . . Chailes .McHenry Pond 

Looking South from Summit of Mt. Clark Francis P. Farquhar 

Summit of Mt. Lyell Prof. Everett Shepardson 

Cathedral Peak Range, from Tuolumne Meadows . . Philip S. Carlton 

Tuolumne Falls, at head of Tuolumne Grand Caiion . Walter LeRoy Huber 

Grand Canon of the Tuolumne River Walter LeRoy Huber 

Waterwheel Falls Francis P. Farquhar 

Rodgers Lake Rose M. Higley 

*Muir Gorge Francis M. Fultz 

Central Hetch Hetchy Pillsbury Picture Co. 

Upper Hetch Hetchy H. B. Chaffee 

The "McKinley" Tree J. T. Boysen 

Typical Sierran Forest of White Fir and Sugar Pine V. S. Forest Service 

An Aged .Juniper Charles T. Mott 

The "Diamond" Group. Mariposa Grove H. C. Tibbitts 

Giant Sequoias at the Cabin in Mariposa Grove ... H. C. Tibbitts 

A Contemporary of Noah (the "Grizzly Giant"! ... H. C. Tibbitts 

The "Twins." Tuolumne Grove Walter LeRoy Huber 

SMALLER ILLUSTRATIONS 

Daybreak in Yosemite Caiion Charles McHenry Pond 

"Where the Rapids Rip and Roar" Pillsbury Picture Co. 

On the Summit of Clouds Rest Pillsbury Picture Co. 

Starting for the Ascent of Mt. Lyell Pillsbury Picture Co. 

North Dome, Royal Arches and Washington Column . H. C. Tibbitts 

Half Dome, seen from Overhanging Rock, Glacier Point H. C. Tibbitts 

Lunch Time on the Tuolumne Pillsbury Picture Co. 

.lack .Main Canon and Wilmer Lake J. F. Kinman 

Regulation Peak and Rodgers Lake .1. F. Kinman 

Sentinel Rock (2) Fiske and Pillsbury 

Hetch Hetchy as It Was U. S. Reclamation Service 

A Study in Forests, Mountains and Clouds .... Clinton C. Clarke 

Returning from Summit of Mt. Hoffman Dr. Edward Gray 

A Glacial Landscape, with Mt. Starr King and Mt. Clark George R. King 

Another Glacial Landscape: Tuolumne Caiion ... C. H. Hamilton 

Washburn Lake J. T. Boysen 

Mt. Clark Lee L. Stopple 

Buttercups Following Retreat of the Snow .... Clinton C. Clarke 

White Firs, on Eagle Peak Trail Prof. George J. Young 

Snow Creek Falls Lena Redington Carlton 

Two North-side Lakes, Upper Twin and Tilden (2) . . J. F. Kinman 

On Coulterville Road, in Merced Grove of Big Trees S. A. Gray 

Eastern End of Yosemite, from Yosemite Falls Trail . George Fiske 
Benches of Glacier-Polished Granite in Upper Merced 

Caiion (2) U. S. Geological Survey 

Mono Pass, with Bloody Caiion and Mono Lake (2) Francis P. Farquhar 

Sardine Lake, in Bloody Caiion J. T. Boysen 

Mt. Hoffman, from Snow Flat Philip S. Carlton 

Tenaya Peak, with Tenaya Lake in Distance .... Pillsbury Picture Co. 

Indian Acorn Cache H. C. Tibbitts 

Indian Grist Mill George R. King 

Tenaya Creek, below Mirror Lake George Fiske 

Yosemite Squaw, with Papoose J. T. Boysen 



Page 

68 

75 

77 

83 

87 

89 

91 

96 

97 

99 

103 

105 

109 

110 

115 

127 

181 

142 

143 

147 

14-9 

151 

153 

157 

158 

161 

165 

170 

171 

175 

180 



2 

6 

7 

7 

8 

9 

11 

15 

17 

18 

19 

20 

20 

22 

22 

24 

25 

25 

26 

26 

28 

30 

32 

34 
36 
37 
37 
38 
38 
40 
40 
42 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



13 



Title Photographer Page 

Polemonium • Rose M. Higley 42 

South Merced Valley, from Lookout Point J. T. Boysen 44 

*Happy Hours! Deer in the Park J. T. Boysen 44 

Wild Flowers and Roval Arches Pillsbury Picture Co. 45 

In Tenaya Caiion (2) Prof. J. N. LeConte 46 

Yosemite Indian Basket Maker J- T. Boysen 48 

Umbrella Tree George Fiske 48 

North Dome, from Happy Isles H. C. Tibbitts 50 

Blue Jay. in Merced Caiion Prof. Everett Shepardson 50 

.lohn Muir in Hetch Hetchy George R. King 52 

Distinguished Visitors to the Grizzly Giant .... Pillsbury Picture Co. 52 

Forest Fire on South Fork of the Merced H. S. Hoyt 53 

Typical Forest Trail on Sunny Yosemite Uplands . . Charles McHenry Pond 54 

A Close Stand of Giant Sequoias U. S. Forest Service 56 

Crossing Cold Canon Meadows Ruth I. Dyar 56 

In Ten Lake Basin Walter LeRoy Huber 57 

Mammoth Peak, from Mono Pass Lee L. Stopple 58 

Tenaya Lake, seen from Tioga Road Pillsbury Picture Co. 59 

Tuolumne Meadows, with Lambert Dome Pillsbury Picture Co. 59 

Young Lake, Ragged Peak and Conness Mountain (2) . Lee L. Stopple 60 
Leaving the Park via Ticga Pass and Leevining Canon 

Road (2) Pillsbury Picture Co. 61 

Sunset on Mono Lake . . . W. G. McPherson, courtesy U. S. Forest Service 62 

Thousand Island Lake, with Banner Peak (2) . . . . Dorothy Kibler 64 

The Devils Postpile . . Walter LeRoy Huber, Courtesy U. S. Forest Service 66 

Merced River and Forest in Yosemite H. C. Tibbitts 69 

Chilnualna Falls J. T. Boysen 70 

New England Bridge at Wawona George Fiske 70 

Bridal Veil Meadow H. C. Tibbitts 71 

The Merced River above EI Portal Pillsbury Picture Co. 72 

Cascade Falls J- T. Boysen 73 

Bridal Veil Fall, seen in early Winter George Fiske 74 

Winter Sports in Yosemite Philip S. Carlton 74 

Cathedral Spires H. C. Tibbitts 76 

Leopard Lily Arthur W. Wilding 76 

EI Capitan and Three Brothers Pillsbury Picture Co. 78 

A Glimpse of North Dome George Fiske 78 

The "Back Road" South Side of Yosemite .... George Fiske 79 

Aeroplane View of Yosemite Falls Camp Curry Studio 80 

Cliff at Head of Yosemite Falls U. S. Geological Survey 81 

Lost Arrow Trail H. C. Tibbitts 81 

Upper Yosemite Fall Pillsbury Picture Co. 82 

Middle Yosemite Fall George Fiske 84 

Summit of :\It. Starr King U. S. Geological Survey 84 

Yosemite in Winter, viewed from Artist Point . . . Charles McHenry Pond 85 

North Wall of Yosemite Valley Pillsbury Picture Co. 85 

Lower Yosemite Fall George Fiske 86 

Ice Cone at Upper Yosemite Fall (2) George Fiske 88 

Le Conte Memorial, Sierra Club Headquarters . . . George Fiske 90 

At the Head of Nevada Fall W. J. Grow 90 

Glacier Point Jutting into Yosemite Valley (2) . . Pacific Photo and Art Co. 92 

Overhanging Rock on the Half Dome Pillsbury Picture Co. 93 

*'Watch Me!" (Bear Cub) J. T. Boysen 93 

The Merced at Happy Isles (2) Pillsbury Picture Co. 94 

The "Cataract of Diamonds" Pillsbury Picture Co. 95 

Little Yosemite. seen from Liberty Cap Pillsbury Picture Co. 95 

Little Yosemite, with Clouds Rest George Fiske 98 

Bunnell Point George Fiske 98 

Sunset over Evening Clouds Pillsbury Picture Co. 100 

On the "Short Trail" to Glacier Point Pillsbury Picture Co. 100 

Domes and Polished Granite, above Little Yosemite . Pillsbury Picture Co. 101 

Shining Granite Slopes below Merced Lake .... Pillsbury Picture Co. 101 

Halt Dome at Sunrise Violet Ehrman Neuenberg 102 

Agassiz Column Pacific Photo and Art Co. 102 

A Characteristic Dome Landscape Pacific Photo and Art Co. 104 

Sentinel Dome George Fiske 104 



14 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 



Title Photographer Page 

Yellow Pines George Fiske 106 

Climbing the Half Dome Camp Curry Studio 107 

The Fissures H. C. Tibbitts 108 

Rangers' CIub-House in Yoseraite Pillsbury Picture Co. 108 

Triple Divide Peait William Templeton Johnson 

Panorama from Glacier Point Camp Curry Studio 112 

Climbing Mt. Clark F. R. v. Bichowsky 

On Lake Washburn at Sunset W. W. Lyman 

*On Overhanging Rock at Glacier Point in Winter . Pillsbury Picture Co. 

Tuolumne Pass (2) Clair S. Tappaan and Dr. Edward Gray 

Vogelsang Pass and Vogelsang Peak Pillsbury Picture Co. 

View South from Vogelsang Pass Pillsbury Picture Co. 

Summer Snowfields in the Sierra (3) Charles W. Michael 

Mt. Starr King after a February Storm Charles McHenry Pond 

Looking South from Slope of Mt. Starr King .... Charles McHenry Pond 
Looking up l>yell Fork of the Tuolumne .... Prof. Everett Shepardson 

Pack-Train at Vogelsang Pass Pillsbury Picture Co. 

Winter Trail to Merced Pass Charles McHenry Pond 

Moraine Meadows in February Charles McHenry Pond 

Rodgers, Electra and Davis Peaks J. Floyd Place 

A Convenient Crack Clinton C. Clarke 

On Fernandez Pass in February Charles McHenry Pond 

From the Summit of Triple Divide Pass Charles McHenry Pond 

Kuna Crest, from Mono Pass Rose M. Higley 

Cutting Steps up the Snow-Finger on Mt. Lyell . . Walter LeRoy Huber 

Mts. Dana and Gibbs (2) ' . . . . Ruth I. Dyar 

"Apron" and Glacial Tarn Hazel E. Roberts 

In .Mpine California Prof. E. Shepardson and F. P. Farquhar 

Cockscomb Crest Walter LeRoy Huber 

The "Bergschrund" of Lyell Glacier H. E. Bailey 

The Uplands in July Francis P. Farquhar 

Summit of Conness Mountain (2) F. R. v. Bichowsky 

Returning from Ascent of Banner Peak J. Floyd Place 

The Craters of Mono County J. T. Boysen 

Matterhorn Caiion, from its east slope Ruth I. Dyar 

A Typical Glacial Cirque on Kuna Crest U. S. Geological Survey 

Piute Mountain, with Lakelet in Seavey Pass .... C. H. Hamilton 

Group of 250-foot Sequoias U. S. Forestry Bureau 

Nearing the Summit of Mt. Lyell Pillsbury Picture Co. 

View East from Benson Pass Walter LeRoy Huber 

Snow Plant J. T. Boysen 

Sierra Club Luncheon on Lyell Summit Pillsbury Picture Co. 

Muir Trail Paul G. Redington 

Looking South from Top of Ml. Lyell Lee L. Stopple 

Waterfalls and Cascades in Tuolumne Canon . . Pillsbury Piclure Co. 

tipper Hetch Hetchy. from Le Conte Point .... Walter LeRoy Huber 

Lower End of Tuolumne Meadows, from Lambert Dome Ruth I. Dyar 

The White Cascade, in Tuolumne River Walter LeRoy Huber 

Glen Aulin and Wildcat Point . Philip S. Carlton 

Cookstoves on the March Ruth I. Dyar 

Le Conte Falls Ruth I. Dyar 

Cathedral Creek Falls Robert L. Lipman 

California Falls and Upper Waterwheels Pillsbury Picture Co. 

Mountain Hemlocks Ruth I. Dyar 

Largest of the Waterwheels Francis P. Farquhar 

Coasting on Polished Ciranite. at the Waterwheels Pillsbury Picture Co. 

Sunset on Smedberg Lake Pillsbury Picture Co. 

In the Heart of the Tuolumne Grand Caiion (2) . . . . Francis P. Farquhar 

Little Hetch Hetchy John S. P. Dean 

Weighing the Dunnage Elizabeth Underwood 

Sunrise in Hetchy Hetchy Rose M. Higley 

A Notable Unnamed Lake in Eleanor Caiion .... J. P. Kinman 

Hetch Hetchy Gorge N. A. Eckart 

Lake Eleanor J. F. Kinman 

Five-Finger Falls, Hetch Hetchy Walter LeRoy Huber 

Cavalrymen at the Cabin in Mariposa Grove .... Pillsbury Picture Co. 



ILLLSTRATIONS 



15 



Title Photographer Page 

Sugar Pine, loaded with Cones George R. King 160 

The "Fallen Monarch" U. S. Forestry Service 160 

A Thick Stand of Jeffrey and Young Yellow Pines . . U. S. Forestry Service 162 

Spermophiles at Conness Creek Ruth I. Dyar 162 

Sugar Pines and Yellow Pine U. S. Forestry Service 163 

Jeffrey Pines L. A. Barrett 164 

Aspen Forest at Lake Merced W. W. Lyman 166 

Largest Lodgepole or Tamarack Pine in the United States Paul G. Redington 167 

Black Oaks and Ferns on Valley Floor Francis M. Fultz 168 

Beautiful Group of Red Fir U. S. Forest Service 169 

The "Governor Tod" Group Pillsbury Picture Co. 172 

"General Sherman" Pillsbury Picture Co. 173 

"General Grant H. E. Roberts 174 

"Alabama," in the Mariposa Grove J. T. Boysen 176 

Red Fir. on Rancheria Mountain Meyer Lissner 176 

Maul Oak, on Wawona Road H. C. Tibbitts 177 

Mariposa Lily Prof. Ralph R. Lawrence 177 

"King of the Forest," Tuolumne Grove (2) . . . . Walter LeRoy Huber 178 

Three Veterans E. N. Baxter 179 

Ready for the Trails H. C. Tibbitts 181 

Liberty Cap H. C. Tibbitts 182 

Climbing the Zigzag Trail Pillsbury Picture Co. 183 

Sugar Pine George Fiske 184 

In the Court at Camp Curry Camp Curry Studio 185 

Camp Curry Group (2) Pacific Photo and Art Co. 186 

Stanford Point H. C. Tibbitts 187 

*Bear and Cubs, in lUilouette Caiion Pillsbury Picture Co. 188 

Relief Model of Yosemite Valley Ansel F. Hall 189 

MAPS. 
From Yosemite Valley to Wawona and the Mariposa 

Grove 194 

Yosemite National Park and its Approaches .... Folder at back of book 

Travel Guide Map of Yosemite National Park ... ' 

Outline Map of Yosemite Valley .... 




Jack Main Cnuon and Wilnier I^ake, north of Hotch Hetehy X'alley, 




Regulation Peak (el. 10,r»00 ft.), and RodE^ers Lake, the best kno^vn of many beautiful 
niuiiiitiiiii InkfH In the iiortlieni part of the Park. 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 



I 

THE YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK 

God of the open air. 

To Thee I make my prayer. . . 
By the breadth of the blue that shines in silence o'er me, 
By the length of the mountain lines that stretch before me, 
By the height of the cloud that sails, with rest in motion. 
Over the plains and the vales to the measureless ocean 
(Oh, how the sight of the things that are great enlarges the eyes!), 
Lead me out of the narrow life to the peace of the hills and the skies. 

— Henry I'an Dyke. 

Mountains are the beginning and end of all natural scenery. 

— Jo/iii Ri/sl/!ii. 

ilHE Yosemite Country invites all lovers of the thronging moun- 
tains. It offers the enjoyment of a landscape famous for its 
elements of surprise and wonder. It promises the lasting in- 
terest of wild upland grandeur, softened by the beauty of flower- 
meadow and forest, of deep-set lakes and innumerable falling waters. A 
land of superlatives, it truthfully boasts the most splendid high-walled val- 
leys, the loftiest cataracts, the oldest, stateliest, and most noteworthy trees, 
in the world. It multiplies the delights of mountaineering with the most 
equable of sunny mountain climates. Finally, — and this is its loudest call 
to thousands of true nature-lovers, — it presents a legible and absorbing 
record of the making of great scenery. 

It is a commonplace of foreign visitors of the boulevard type, and of 
some Americans who know the towns and spas of Europe better than the 
glory of their own land, that the mountain scenery of Western America is 




18 



VOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 



a scenery of mere savage bigness, rather than of predominant beauty. 
This easy complaint may be charged in good part to our modern demand 

for luxury, and will ^ .^^^^m^^^Si*ii^^,>'^?mm4 

be forgotten with K; 
the multiplication of L 
automobile roads ^' 
and expensive ho- 
tels. A fashionable f 
inn on its summit, •' 
with ease of access, 
has made many a 
third-rate hill in Eu- 
rope the goal of 
spell-bound tourists, 






Sentinel Koek, meen from 
enst anil «e.»*l, — tlie K<"en< 
Xiljieier-eiirveil vHtV rlNhiK 
:t.0N4i I'eet on the Nontli 
side of ^ oMenilte Vllllej, 
opposite 'I'liree llrotliers. 
The perpenfll«'iilnr front 
*ft the Sentinel, sheer for 
linlf its lieiKlit, slion'N 
how the elen^iiKe hns fol- 
lowefl ^er(le]ii jointlnu In 
(he ^rnnlle. 

including droxes of our 
globe-trotting fellow- 
countrvmen. Ne\erthe- 
less, the trite criticism 
has in it a half-truth. It 
is true of the Kockv 



Mountain and Sierra systems to the same extent that it is true of the bleak 
Swiss plateaus supporting the great snow-peaks, or the Tyrolese uplands. 



THE YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK 



19 



or the cirque country of the Pyrenees. The beauty of such scenes is not 
to be measured on the scale of country estates and well-trimmed pastoral 
landscape, among the hills of older regions. 

High mountain lands but lately abandoned by ice-sheet and glacier 
wear similar aspects the world over. They are the seats of sublimity 
rather than of the picturesque. Their fascination lies not so much in soft- 
ness of detail as in breadth of view, in strength of line and majesty of 
form. They conjure with a story of their master sculptor, the Sun, wield- 




Hetch Heti'hy ns It AVns. The Oaks are i^une, and the nohle Aalley is soon to heoonie a 
beautiful Lake, storin;^ water for San Franeisco. The Kreat landniiirk, Kolana Rook, 
corresponds in its position un the south trail tvith Sentinel Rook in Vctseniite. 

ing vast tools of ice and snow and rushing torrent, to block out peak and 
range, to lay broad glacial valleys deep with soil, to plant the highland 
lakes, and to smooth the wide rock benches, which, even yet unweathered, 
refuse welcome to forest or farm. 

In such alpine regions, whether of Europe or America, the real out- 
door man needs no handbook of science to interpret their report of ele- 
mental forces, busy until comparatively recent time. Nor does the wild- 
ness of the scenes, or the effort needed to attain them, weigh against the 
inspiration which he prizes more than comfort. He is not offended by 
the absence of those sylvan graces common only to the older lowlands. 
And if, happily, prodigal Nature, in her bounty, should set down a delight- 
ful picture of gentler beauty in the midst of her mountain grandeurs, he 



20 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 




A Study In ForestN, >louiitain.s, and I'loud.s. A'ie^v east from the NUiniiiit of l.aniliert Doiiie, 
in Tuolumne Mendo^TS. BeKinninj:: on the left, the peaks are Dana, t>ll>l*s and llani- 
moth. The cloud seenery of the Sierra is as eharaeteristic and impressive hh Its land- 
scape. The forest, at this hij::h level, is mainly lod^epole or tamarack pine. 

appraises it the more justly for its mighty surroundings. The ancient hills, 
he knows, are man's oldest and unfailing friends; their service, past and 
present, in making the earth inhabitable calls for his tribute; and year after 
year finds him returning with joy to learn their lessons and receive their 
strength. As Maxwell Burt gaily sings, — 

There is no good denying it, 

If you be mountain born. 
You hear the high hills calling 

Like the echo of a horn ; 
Like the echo of a silver horn that threads the golden day, 
You hear the high hills calling, and your heart goes away. 

The character and accent of mountain landscape at its best distinguish 

the whole of the Yosemite 
I National Park. Its area of 

1 , 1 24 square miles combines 
the most rugged wildness 
with innumerable scenes of 
composed beauty. Extend- 
ing from an average eleva- 
tion of 4,500 feet on its 
western boundary to the 
snowy summits of the Sierra 
Nevada Range, at more 




M 




Returnlne from the Summit of Mt. llonHian. 







C Si 

e Z 



iJ ' 



« — 



S 
S^ 

U - 

>■ 

_ a 

»?- 

■■ 

if 
a 

3 



22 



YOSEMITK AND ITS HIGH SII-RRA 




A Glacinl l.niiilNrai>e: 'I'he iloiiios i»f ^It. Starr KiiiK iriulit). ^vitli Ml. 4 lark and the 
«*ir<iiie.s of tile Merred Ranf;e beyond, bounding the Illiliiuette »ater-Nhod. 

than 13,000 feet, it includes the watersheds of two important rivers, the 
Merced and the Tuolumne, and embraces a \ariety of upland scenery 
hardly equaled in any other of our national parks. 

Each of these great public outing grounds has its own especial inter- 
est: the Colorado Grand Canon, its \ast gorge, with an infinite di\crsity in 
the forms and coloring of the river-sculptured rock; the Rainier Park, its 
single volcanic peak, imposing beyond other American mountains, crowned 
with its perpetual ice-sheet, and radiating a score of huge glaciers down its 
densely forested slopes; the Yellowstone, its wonderful thermal basins and 
their geysers, its lakes and caiions, all blending in an unforgettable glory 
of color; the new Cilacier Park, like the still grander Canadian Rockies 

near by, a wealth of 
smaller snow-peaks, 
glaciers, and beauti- 
ful lake-strewn val- 
leys. 

Yosemite has no 
geysers. Its for- 
mer mighty glaciers 
ha\e shrunk to a 
few pygmy rem- 
nants, still lurking 
deep in north-side 
head-basins on the 
highest peaks. But 
ancient ice-sheets, of 
which only these 

Another (■lacial l^antlNeape: 'ruoliiltliie t'auikti, wliere 1h4»llNalld^4 c?Ui i1/~tiT',? ri^ix. litirr^t- 
.. ,i ^ ... t ,., 1 . ..^ 1^ .1 aliauowa ll*J\\ llllticl. 

of ^ear.s auo, llie Kreat liioliinin«' 4ila«*lt>r Icit it^ reciiril in '=^ 

the deep troUKb and polished uranite »loi>e!i. haVC Ictt thc StOTV 





Vast Glni'ial liasiii of I In- 11fr<i-il. \i<«<Ml Iriiiii (ilinit-r I'oiiK, on .south rim of Yoseniitc Vnlley. 
neloiv, in Merced Cafloii, \ rriiul und \evndil Falls drop from massive Kraiiite steps in tlie patli- 
waj of the aueient :»Iereed <;laeier. On tlie left. Liberty Cap, a Klaeier-selllptllred quarter- 
dome, rises a tliousnnd feet. The polislied Brauite slopes of Little \ osemite are seen beyond, 
nhile the snow-elad eone of Florence Mountain (1:;,."<I7 ft.t twelve miles away almost hides the 
still loftier Mt, Lyell I i:t,0!IO ft.l. several miles farther east. Mt. (lark, the "Obelisk" <11,,'00 
ft.), tops the sky-line on the rij^ht. 



24 



yOSEMlTK AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 



of their mass and power clearly written on what is certainly the most varied 
and perhaps the most fascinating mountain landscape in America. 

Such a record holds, inevitably, far greater concern for us than the 
glaciers themselves could have had. The gray granite caiions which the 
ice-streams dug are often as deep as that in the Arizona sandstones. 
Though less gorgeously colored, they are quite as wonderful in the carving 
of cliff and wall. But they have other interest found nowhere else in equal 
degree. Glorious waterfalls, flung banner-like from the sheer canon sides, 




Washburn l.nke <7,(M0 ft. <>l.>, on the Mrrt'cil Hl\cr, ul»€>«e l.nke Pierced. l.onK Mountain 
(ll.-tOS ft.tt on tile erest of tlie Slerrii, is seen In the oentrnl illNtnnoe. 

tell of complex systems of branch glaciers, once dropping their avalanches 
from lofty hanging valleys. These branches radiated like a family tree 
from the trunk glaciers. All were bent to denude the Sierra slope of its 
sedimentary rocks, and dissect the underlying granites with hundreds of 
caiions, gorges, and valleys. Some thousands of years ago, the glaciers 
retreated slowly back upon the heights of the range. Each of the larger 
troughs thus abandoned bore proof of its glacial origin. Instead of the 
even grades of stream-cut caiions, they presented the form of giant stair- 
ways, down which the glaciers had moved majestically, to yield at last to 
the then tropical heat of the lower valleys. In this descent, the ice carved 
steps in its path, varying in height and breadth with its own varying mass 
and the character and jointing of the rock. On these steps, when the 
shriveled glaciers at last reccdeil, hung a multitude of cataracts, and their 



THE YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK 



25 



deeply cupped treads held hun- 
dreds of high-walled lakes. 
The passing centuries have 

greatly relieved the primitive 

wildness of this glacial land- 
scape. Forests as important 

as those of the Rainier Park, 

and made even more beautiful 

by their universal commingling 

of sunshine and shade, have 

covered the upland moraines 

and soil beds laid by the ice. 

Many of the waterfalls on 

the canon stairways have cut 

through the ledges, and become 

even more picturesque as cas- 
cades. While scores upon 

scores of the iine glacial lakes 

still remain, — and a larger book 

than this would be required to 

show and describe the notable 

lakes of the Yosemite Park, — 

many others have been filled up 

by stream deposit, profitably 

converting bare water areas 

into delightful mountain vales. 

Such is Nature's cleverest art. 

Here our debt to the glaciers reaches its climax. For among the 

filled lake basins made possible by glacier plowing are Yosemite and Hetch 

Hetchy Valleys, the chief glories of the entire Park. By the height and 

grandeur of their walls, the unequaled majesty of their cataracts, the 

charm of their level floors, and the variety and interest of their forests and 

mountain wild flowers, these famous valleys claim place among the pre- 
eminent treasures, not only 
of California, but of all 
America. Their splendor 
is part of our great national 
heritage, — part, indeed, of 
"those higher things among 
our possessions," as Prof. 
Lyman has said, "that can- 
not be measured in money, 
but have an untold bearing 

Buttercups Following He.rea, of the S„„,v. Thts i» "P^" ^^C filler SensibiliticS 
the castoni of many early flowers near timber line. of 3. IiatlOn. * 




Mt. I'lark 411.500 ft.». sometimes called the *'Obe- 
lisk" beonuse of its Mntterhorn-like «Tall rising 
at the liend of the Klaoial cirque seen here. 




26 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 




Let IK) one, however, 
who knows only these re- 
nowned valleys imagine that 
he has won his due share 
of Yosemite's inspiration. 
His birthright of beauty 
and grandeur here is some- 
thing e \' e n more worth 
while. The two great val- 
leys are of course magnifi- 
cent beyond words, and 
each day spent in them, or 
g i \" e n to climbing their 
walls, will bring new re- 
wards. But I am sorry for 
those who go no farther; 
who cannot spend a few 
days, at least, back in the 
Whin- Kirs (Allies iiiii ,i, on tiic loaj;!.- Peiik Tniii. uppcr country of the MeT- 

ThiN tree, KO n.-liiiril iK-ciiiiNe of its liKlit Krii.i linrk. l •"p l 

iH comnion tliruiichoiit (lie I'jirk at .->.00(» to 7,000 ^^*-^ ^r lUOlUmnC, amOng 

feel. .,io«i, KivinK pia.e to th.. Ke.i Kir, «i,t..h jhc lakcs and shining gran- 

ahoiinilN at altitiideN ii|i to O.tKlO feet. . 

ite domes of the highlands. 
Even though they may climb no snow-peaks, the high mountains will wel- 
come them to sit at their feet, share their gentler sunshine and broader out- 
look, breathe their diviner airs, learn the joy of the upland trails, and 
know that the best of Yosemite lies far from the crowds of Yosemite 
Valley. 

For the Yosemite country is a picture of contrasts and harmonies that 
make a perfect whole. It is not to be known bv its famous valleys only. 
These are but the enchant- 
ing foreground of our scene, 
and gain vastly by the dig- 
nity and austerity of their 
high mountain setting. 
Viewed separately, the val- 
leys, splendid as they are, 
do not make the picture,, any 
more than Millet's two fig- 
ures bent in prayer make the 
"Angelus." We need to 
know the background in or- 
der to get the true values of 

the foreSCene. And only so, S„o»-Creek |.«l.s. o« leunya l.„ke Iran. 




I 



r 



f 



ftiass'si.w 




28 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 



indeed, can the highly sensational features of the valleys themselves, and 
their ancient story, be understood. Yosemite Valley and its sister canon 
of Hetch Hetchy, with their lesser replicas in different parts of the Park, 
are all inseparable, geologically, from the High Sierra back of them. 
The "dropped-block" theory of their origin has long been abandoned. 
They are linked by the vanished glaciers with the snow-peaks. 

Thus our Yosemite picture, both scenically and historically, looks 
back, of necessity, from the warmth of its lowland grandeur to the wild 
sublimity of bleak highlands, till recently the home of perennial frost. 
Even here are startling surprises for one who expects no beauty on the 
ice-swept heights. The 
stern sculpturing of pin- 
nacled granite crags that 
dot the wide plateaus is 
no more characteristic 
of the landscape than is 
their flora. Outposts 
of the forests, huddled 





■|M,> ^orth-^i<l<' l.ikix. I pprr 
'l^viii Lnke. iiltove. in jit llie 
lienil of roieauor Creek, and 
f»rin.s part of the l^ake 
Kleanor system. Below Is 
Tildeu Lake, with Tower 
Peak (11.704 ft.) in the een- 

■ ''^^^"^^^^^^^^^^^^■ML,.: '''"' distanee, and Saurian 

^^^^^^^^^^^Hl on the 

^^^HJPI clumps of lodgepole and 
white-bark pine, are ev- 
'"" ' erywhere bravely scal- 
ing the ridges. Throngs of hardy mountain flowers, most brilliant of 
Nature's children, crowd all the ravines and lakesides, and seize upon 
every sheltered nook. The shallowest pretense of soil, weathered from 
the somber granites, is sufficient invitation. The short alpine summer 
is long enough for their modest needs. Boldly they rush the season, 
edging away the tardy snow-banks, and calling on Old Winter to be up 
and going. Hardly waiting for his departure, at once they set about 
their business of hiding the glacial scars with masses of gay color. This 
ministry of beauty begins at the very snow-line, and grows as flowers and 
forest march together down to the sunny glacial meadows, and on to the 
still older valleys of the Sierran middle zone, deep with soil, and glowing 
in the long summer. 

Eager as Nature has been to plant the broad Yosemite uplands with 



X&6& 




« I ^ I a 
r ttjs 1- S 

• 4i [►. in _J; 
T. ^ C S m 

© s — 5t 5 

2 1, te 0. 
e ^ 'S f" » 

■" i S . 8 

^ 5 ^ ^ 

« C " i ^ 
_ 1 8 I 

= =tii 

— I. - X "* 

. ^ u ^ 



lis 



u s 

e . u a 

^ e 5 ' a 

- i * S 

® .a «- a ■ 

_ a ~ » 

.-4 cs 

* S "! l- JS 

s J r '3 

2^ a § B 

i « S f. 



i r e s 
r T, i =- s 






5 : = 



ait 






* .5 
« • ^ ^ o 






n S " — >- 

©■ C - « ■" s 

^r s s e 0. 

S*al5f 

a, . ' e 

-.'■"5 0" 

^ ^ ^ h s» 
f X it.s is 

a 
U 



30 



YOSEMITE AND ITS lllCll SIKRRA 



flowers and trees, 
she has scattered 
other wonders here 
with even greater 
extravagance. Al- 
most everything is 
on a scale of sur- 
prise. Nowhere else 
in America are high- 
land lakes so plenti- 
ful or their settings 
more superb. The 
vast cataracts of Yo- 
semite Valley dwart 
a hundred other 
great waterfalls and 
cascades in the Park. 
These are hardly 
noticed here, but 
any one of them, 
could it be carried 
over to Switzerland, 
would become a cen- 
ter of crowded tour- 
ist inns. The Park's 
genial forests oi 
white and red firs, in- 
cense cedars, sugar, 
yellow and lodgepole pines, spreading up to altitudes of eight and nine 
thousand feet, with graceful mountain hemlocks and indomitable white-bark 
pines ranging the alpine levels beyond, thrill every lover of splendid trees. 
But these are overshadowed by its groves of Ciiant Sequoias, the mar\el of 
the botanical world, — immemorial trees that might have heard blind Home^ 
sing the fall of Troy, or furnished the timbers for Solomon's temple. 

Colossal this landscape is, but its features are so well proportioned 
that in their immensity we feel no exaggeration or distortion. Only when 
the visitor compares them with more familiar objects does he clearly see 
that here, truly, is a playground fashioned for giants. The very harmony 
of its elements makes us slow to grasp the magnitude of the whole. To 
know Yosemite well is the study of a lifetime, — labor well repaying the 
student, as John Muir has found it. We may not quickly learn all its 
magic, though even the newcomer yields to its spell. He comes again and 
again who would fully know its mysteries. If Yosemite were of Greece, 
how inevitably legend, seeking the clue to such perfection of beauty, or 




On < (Miltcrvil 



Koail. in till* >l«'r<'<Ml *;ritv** of IIIK Trees. 
Kroi*' hits thirty fine Seqiioins. 




W eNterii ciitl (»f \ osoiiiltt", «^itli 



"eiitiiit'l ICoi'k iiii!l Kl <':ipitiiii. Mecii 
iil>o\ e till* Vall«'> llooi-. 



roiii I II ion l*oiii(, 2,:t.'0 feet 



32 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 



endeavoring to account for such majesty, must ha\e peopled it with gods! 
The Indians of the Sierra, however, were seldom builders of myths. 
Stolid and unimaginative beyond most of their brethren, they saw in their 
mountains only homes, sustenance, and a tradition of defense. Super- 
stitions and devil-lore they had in plenty. One of their tales, for example, 
concerned Yosemite Valley, their "Ah-wah-nee," meaning a deep grassy 
vale. Ah-wah-nee, they told the first whites, was the abode of demons, at 
whose head was the great Tu-tock-ah-nu-lah, the "Rock Chief,'' which we 




Eastern Kiifl of ViiNt-iiiite Vnlley. Neeu from Yosenilte Fall.** Trnll, near foot of I'piier 
Vf>Neniite FnllN. Itcj^inniUK ivitli Glacier Point on the ri^lit. tlie .oky-lliie mUowh 
KiieecMKively Mt. Starr King, tlie .^It. Clark i;rouii. Half Dome, and North Dome. 

have translated into current usage in the Spanish "El Capitan." His 
ominous face could be seen in the side of a vast cliff, threatening invaders 
of his domain. But one suspects that this naive legend may have been 
invented for a timely purpose. 

The Indian tradition of Yosemite is too much attenuated by the years, 
and adulterated by the fancies of white writers, to permit the acceptance 
of many so-called Indian legends of present-day publication. But even 
these ascribe to the aborigines here no such veneration for the great peaks, 
the vast, inspiring waterfalls, and other superlative forms of Nature, as 
elsewhere among primitive men clothed them with power over human lives, 
or called the native to worship. Nor does it appear that their speculation 
undertook seriously to explain these phenomena by a mythology such even 
as grew up in the Northwest, where the legends of the "Bridge of the 




El Capitnu Hlie Captaiu*, with early nionilnf;;: Hiinli);;lit ou its east face. One iie«ds the 
aid of fieureK to appreciate the magnitude of this block of unjointcd f^ranite. The 
brow of El Capitau is 3,100 feet above the Mereed Rfver; its actual Hummlt is 500 feet 
higher. Each of its two faces exceeds ItiO acres in area. A lone tree growing on a 
ledge under the arch seen In the shadow on the riglit is more than eiit^hty feet high. 



34 



YOSEMITE AND IIS IIKJII SIKRRA 



Gods" and the "Battle of tiic Winds" on the Columbia Ri\er, the Puget 
Sound folk-tale of the "Miser of Takhoma," and the like, show the In- 
dian's restless mind allying Nature with his daily life, and seeking curi- 
ously to unravel her problems, lor the Vosemite Indian, the unknown 
darkness held only ghosts and witches. His unawakened, easily-satislied 
soul knew little reverence either for the Great Spirit or for Nature. His 
gods were animals. Higher than the animals his thought seldom rose. 
His mountains offered him no vision. The loud eloquence of their cata- 
racts stirred him only 
to fear. The wise 
voices of their king- 
ly and age-old trees 
gave him no counsel. 
Yet these mountains 
supplied him with a 
place to ll\e In, in 
comfort and aborigl- 





Ilent'he.s of Massive (irsin- 
ite in the I'pper Merced 
Canon, iMilislied hy llie 
^liiciers, 11114I no^v siow- 
ly lUililnK olV linfler tlie 
lllons of frost nnil sun. 

nal luxury. They 
provided him with 
acorns, nuts, game, 
and other food. They 
enabled him to hide 
in pathless canons, where pursuit, he deemed, was impossible, and from 
the walls of which he might roll down rocks upon any who should attempt 
to penetrate his mountain fastness. 

It is not surprising, therefore, that our first native tradition of the 
Yosemlte represents the Red Man as telling white trespassers that Tutock- 
ahnula, the great cliff towering yonder above them, would surely punish 
their intrusion Into his Ahwahnee. The white tide was rolling steadily 
across the plains to the Pacific. A wave had swept up the coast from 
Mexico. All lowland California was Inundated. The lure of Kl Dorado, 
the golden god, was lilling the lower \alleys of the Sierra with greedy and 
ruthless fortune-hunters. The mountain Indians had no wish to be "civil- 
izetl" as their cousins of the San Joaquin had been. Hence even as early 



36 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HUill SIERRA 



as 183.3, long before the discovery of gold and the rush of miners to the 
foothills, Captain Joseph Walker, the first white man to lay eyes upon the 
Yosemite country, was carefully warned by his Indian guides away from 
the great valleys, and made to keep his course on the highlands parting the 
Merced and the Tuolumne, where now a growing stream of travel each 
season crosses the Park on the Tioga Road. And when the gold-hunters 
came, a notable figure, if California furnished any notables to the roll 

of Indian history, 
arose on behalf of 
his diminished tribe 
to dispute their ad- 
v'ance into the be- 
loved canon. Ten- 
aya, the Yosemite 
chief, is the most 
memorable and pic- 
turesque native lead- 





Above, Mono PflNM (el. 

ll>,.'!l!l ft.), lookiiiK nest, 
^vltli ^Iiiiiiiiiotli >loun- 
tiiiii iiikI I\iiii!i <'r4'Mt <»n 
Ict'l. Ilclon. Illixxly 
<'iini>n iiiul \\ :ilk«'r Lake, 
ivitli \\ illtiiiiis Hiitte and 
Mono I. like beyond. 

er in the rich annals 
of the Golden State. 
The actual dis- 
co\ery of this Indian 
stronghold is a mat- ^^^^^^^^^, 
ter of some debate. 
Whether it was Walker, in '33, or Savage's frontier militia of '51 that 
first looked down into the vast Yosemite gorge may never be established. 
Each expedition, however, is part of our story. 

History has done scant justice to Joseph Reddeford Walker. He 
belonged to that small group of intrepid frontiersmen who did much but 
wrote little, and whose achievements have been ignored through their own 
neglect of fame and the claims of more ambitious rivals. Walker's failure 
to publish his discoveries, and the fact that he served under a jealous com- 
mander, who was even capable of claiming them for his own, have com- 
bined to obscure his work. That he led a party of Bonneville's men in 
the first exploration westward from "the Great Salt Lake;" that he dis- 
proved the then accepted belief that that lake drained into the Pacific; that 



THE YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK 



37 




Sardiue l^ake, filliuK n Klaoiul oirque 
belon' 3Iono Pass. 



Bloody Cuiion, 



he established the 
existence, extent and 
character of the 
Great Basin; that 
he charted its rivers 
and lakes ending as 
they begin in the 
desert; that he dis- 
covered and was the 
first to cross the Si- 
erra Nevada Range, 
entering Alta Cali- 
fornia through the 
Mono Pass and leav- 
ing it the next year, 
1834, by the route 
since known as Wal- 
ker's Pass; — here, 
surely, was a real "pathfinder," worth a clear and permanent page in 
Western history ! 

Walker concerns us, not only because he was the first white visitor to 
the Yosemite region, but especially because the claim is now made by his 
family and others that he "discovered and camped in Yosemite Valley." 
The evidence available hardly seems to sustain this claim in full. 

On the stone over Walker's grave, in Alhambra Cemetery, at 
Martinez, is this line, said to have been placed there on authority of 

Captain Walker himself: 
"Camped at Yosemite, No- 
vember 13, 1833;" and 
Munro-Fraser's "History 
of Contra Costa County," 
published in 1882, six years 
after Walker's death, con- 
tains a sketch of the ex- 
plorer, quoting his nephew, 
with whom he spent his last 
years, and saying: "His 
were the first white man's 
eyes that ever looked upon 
the Yosemite, which he then 
discovered, although the 
honor has been accorded to 
some other person at a peri- 
od twenty years later." 




Mt. Hon'ninn, fruni Suon^ Flat, on the Tioen Road. This 
maMN of Krnnlte ramparts Is the erest of the divide 
between A'oseniite Vnlley and the Tuoliiniue. 



38 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 




Tennjn I'riik ( Kl.Tim fl.(, on Ihf riKhl. «Uh i'rnajt 



.!ike in the iliMtnn4>t> at its fiiot. 



Thus it is seen that the present claim goes somewhat beyond the testimony 
of Walker and his nephew. We may accept "Camped at Yosemite," hut 
are we warranted in assuming that "at" means "in"? 

On the contrary, Dr. L. H. Bunnell, who 
was of the Savage party visiting the Valley in 
1851, and who named it "Yosemite," says in 
his well-known and entirely trustworthy account 
of that expedition, "Discovery of the Yosem- 
ite" (4th ed., 1911, pp. 38, 39): 

I cheerfully concede the fact * * * that "his were the 
first white man's eyes that ever looked upon the Yosemite" 
above the valley, and in that sense he was certainly the 
original white discoverer. 

The topography of the country over which the Mono 
trail ran, and which was followed by Capt. Walker, did 
not admit of his seeing the valley proper. The depression 
indicating the valley, and its magnificent surroundings, could 
alone have been discovered, and in Capt. Walker's conver- 
sations with me at various times he was manly enough to 
say so. Upon one occasion I told Capt. Walker that Tenie-ya 
had said that "a small party of white men once crossed the 
mountains on the north side, but were so guided as not 
to see the valley proper." With a smile the Captain said: 
"That was my party, but I was not deceived, for the lay of 
the land showed there was a valley below; but we had be- 
come nearly barefooted, our animals poor, and ourselves 
• lu the verge of starvation, so we followed down the ridge 
to Bull Creek, where, killing a deer, we went into camp." 

Again, on p. 78, Dr. Bunnell says Walker 

Iniliail Aiorii t iulii- (riiii.k- , , , . , u i • t T l AT • l 

i.ii"(— « larKe "ii-k.-r basket told him that his Utc and Mono guides gave 

Net on post.*,, and tliatrliril i ]* i r I - r I I 

^^nu pin.- i>raa.-in-», poiniis such a dispial account ot the canons or both 

fltttvn, t4» keep uiit .sqiiirrelw ^ I ^ I 1 .^ I * ^ ^I 

„,„, ,„i,.e. n\ers that he kept his course near to the 







a s i 

Z ^ Z 

t s c 

- x = 

. ~ s 



£ a 



.St- 






^m^- -'"^^v 



ii5 






: in 

4' c 



^ =£: 




40 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 




divide," — that is 
between the Tuol- 
umne and the Mer- 
ced. With no other 
chronicle of this first 
expedition, Bun- 
nell's quotations 
from Walker and 
the Yosemite chief 
enable us to see 
the weary explor- 
ers struggling up 
the steep defile of 
Bloody Canon from 
the volcanic Mono 
, ,. plain, descending 

Inilian (Jrist-^I ill. An iiiiportnnt artlele of Sierra Inilhin diet '^ 

^vns meal made l»y pouiidin;; lilaek-»ak aeoriiM in rude mor- thc long WeStCm 

far** in the granite. The meal was hleaehed ivilh hot water i Kalf cf-n r\^pH 

to remove the hitter taste, and hnked into hard cake hy SlOpe, nail SiarVea, 

dropping heated stones into cooking baskets containing the and floundcrinff 

paste, Snoh acorn bread is still made by the Indians. ^ 

through the un- 
tracked snow of November on the divide, to reach the warm San Joaquin 
Valley, and at last the sunshine and comfort of the provincial capital, 
Monterey. Probably Walker's route was much the same as that of the 
later Tioga Road. The Indians had kept the secret of their warm Yo- 
semite home. 

We must conclude, I think, that while Walker first traversed the 
Yosemite uplands, and was, in that sense, as Bunnell admits, "the original 
white discoverer," the honor of first visiting the floor of the Valley and 
making known the majesty of its walls remained for the "Mariposa Bat- 
talion." Of that 
second expedition 
we have a vivid and 
minute narrative. 
Dr. Bunnell's ac- 
count of It, and of 
the Indian war of 
1851, of which it 
was a part, is some- 
thing of a frontier 
classic, and, I be- 
lieve, a wholly con- 
scientious and credi- 
ble report. Ten- 

aya, rather than any Tenaja treek, belon Mirror l.ake 




42 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 




iii. 1 



I 



white leader, is unmistals.ably its hero. In the 
old chief's last stand for the mountain fortress 
of his people, we see the Indian at his best. 

Ihe gold-seekers and game-hunters of "49 
and '50 were pushing the natives back into the 
mountains; the Indians were retaliating as usual 
uith robberies, burnings, and occasional mur- 
der. To the reservation established by the In- 
dian commissioners on the Fresno, near the site 
of the present town of Madera, some of the 
hill tribes had come peaceably. Others were 
brought in b\ the militia companies of the new 
State go\ernment. But far in the heart of the 
Sierra, the half-breed scouts reported, near the 
head of the Merced River, was a small tribe 
that refused to leave its deep, rocky Valley. 

"There," they said, "one Indian is more than 
ten white men. Hiding places are many, and 
the Indians will hurl rocks down upon all who 
pursue them. Other tribes dare not make war 
on thein, for they are lawless, like the grizzly 
bear, whose name, Yo-Semite, they have adopted, 
and as strong. We fear to go to this Valley. 
There are many witches there." 

Messengers sent to the Yosemites failed, but 
at last their chief came, alone. Addressing Ma- 
jor Savage, a veteran frontiersman who commanded the Battalion, the 

grave old Indian is said to have spoken this brief oration: "Mv people 

do not want anything from the Great Father 

you tell me about. The Great Spirit is our 

father, and has supplied us with all we need. 

We want nothing from white men. Our 

women are able to do our work. Go then ; 

let us remain in the mountains where we were 

born, and where the ashes of our fathers 

have been given to the winds. I have said 

enough." 

Tenaya was sent to bring in his tribe, but 

only a part came, mostly the old and the \ery 

young. The aged chief, when chargcil with 

deception, promised to go on with his people 

to the soldiers' camp. .Maior Sa\age, he 

. . . 1 ^' 11 - 1 - 1 • PoU'iiioiiiiiiii iV. f\iiiiiiiiii I, at 

said, might go to the \ alley with one (it his i::.ooo rt., near i-nrker i'n»s. 

.1 • 1 I I 1 I r I Tliij* dariiiK blue perennial 

youths as a guuie, hut he would linci no one seeks tue iii^iiext Kiope!i. 



.-mf 




A'oMOniilo S4|iia^\. with PnpooKe 





>lirror Lnke, at imnitli «il IViinvn ( afum, with rvttevtion of Mf. \Va<kiii», riNifm morv than 
4,000 feet ahove its siirfaee. Perfeet relleetions Hiieli as this are seen ouly ill the early 
morning: interval between tlie downward eurrents of the night und tlie warm windsi 
that draw up tlie Sierra slope as soon as the nuii strikes it. 



44 



YOSEMITE AND ITS lll(;il SIERRA 




Soath Merced Valley, seen from Lookout Point, on the rontl from Wnwona to YoNenilte. 

there; the younger men from Mono and the Tuolumne who had married 
into the tribe had gone back to the mountains. "My tribe is small," he 
declared, "not large, as the white chief has said. The Piutes and Monos 
are all gone. Young and strong men can find plenty in the mountains; 
why should they go to see the white chiefs, to be yarded like horses and 
cattle? I am willing to go, for it is best for mv people." 

Sending Tenaya and his band on to the camp, upon the South Fork 
of the Merced, Savage and his men proceeded across the upland through 
deep snow, and on March 21, 1851, descended to the mysterious Valley. 
There they found only an aged squaw. It was as Tenaya had said; the 
young men and their women had disappeared, and after a brief survey 
the disappointed whites recrossed the wintry hills to their camp. 

During this first 
visit of white men to 
the Valley, Dr. Bun- 
nell proposed naming 
it Yosemite, after its 
Indian inhabitants. 
Thus the beautiful 
name was adopted, 
though not without 
-^ the usual opposition 
from men who saw in 
the Indian merely a 




Ilniipy 



(.OPtftlliHI. J I BOTSEN 

li('<»r art' n fnniilinr NiKlit <'V**r>ivhere iu the 



loiirN! 

liplHiid forrKlN niul nieaflowM of III*- l*ark. 



THE YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK 



45 



savage to be de- 
spoiled of his lands. 
But the Indian 
name, as I have 
said, was Ah-wah- 
nee. Its ancient 
tribe had been al- 
most exterminate!.! 
by disease many 
years before, and 
the Valley home 
abandoned, until 
Tenaya, son of an 
Ahwahneechee fath- 
er by a Mono moth- 
er, had led back the 
few survivors of the 
race, re-enforced by 
renegade Monos, 
Piutes from the Tu- 
olumne, and fugi- 
tives from the low- 
land tribes. The 
mongrel clan of sev- 
eral hundred mem- 
bers proudly adopt- 
ed a new name given 
it by others, Yosem- 
ite, or Grizzly Bear, 
for the ill-reputed 
animal which the In- 
dians most feared 
and emulated. 

Savage never got 

his captives to the Fresno reservation. When nearly there, alarmed by 
runners from the hostile Chowchillas on the South Fork, and taking ad- 
vantage of the relaxed vigilance of their guards, they fled in the night, and 
were not again to be tempted away from their Valley. Inducements suc- 
cessful with other tribes were rejected with contempt. Gaudy clothing 
and cheap presents Tenaya declared no recompense for loss of freedom 
in their mountain home. Even the offered beef was refused; the Indians 
preferred horse-flesh. Hence, after the Chowchillas had been subdued, 
and the other tribes had made treaties, Savage sent a second expedition, 
under Captain Boling, to bring in the stubborn Yosemites. Bunnell again 
was of the party, which expected to have little diflicultv in persuading 




Wild FloM'ers licnenth the Royal Arche.s, 



46 



VOSKMITF. AMI I is I1K;1I SIERRA 



Tenaja to surrciuicr. But on rcachiiij^ the valley in Max, Boling tounJ 
only deserted wigwams and smoking ash-heaps, telling of a hasty Hight. 
Three of the chief's sons were captured at the foot of the great rock then 

named, in memory of the cap- 
ture, "Three Brothers." One 
of these youths was killeti in 
trying to escape, and shortly 
afterwards Tenaya himself 
was caught iiv Boling's Indian 






11 (aniiii. TIm* 


ii|>|icr 


^ lew 


lit T*»iinj 


loiiks 


»iit-k ( 
iiir sli 


o ni4- liiil 
o« s (lie 'A* 


l>4»iiie: tlic 
!•;;«* Iilorkrd 


lower 


l> y n 


lnm«* 


1 Iiltr. 


I'lie 


sto**|» 


NOIltll 


^Vllli. 


<«t\<>|»t li> 


u\ aliinclics 


I'ver.v 


.spriiiu t'i'otii t 


U' sill 


e of 


('IoikIn 


nvf*i 


is sir II i 


1 I'JU'll 


nii- 


liiro. ' 


Iiis V 


iridii <»ll't*rN 


Krt'iit 


difli- 


ml ties 


to (1 


r flinilwr. 







scouts on a high bench east of the "Big I-alls," whence he had been w atch- 
ing his enemies helow. When he saw the body of his son, his grief found 
vent only in a look of hatred that Boling well understood. No word could 
be coaxed from him in reply to the Captain's regrets for the youth's death. 
A day or two later, he made an unsuccessful attempt to escape across the 
swollen Merced River. Then at last his grief and rage found utterance 




a V ii 

* s ^ 
= 5| 

■- ■* « 



' ... s 
■; a a 



a c 
= 5 = 



. I ^ 
5§z 



H — — 

Si 

a 4)5 
""fa 






■5 s- 






= - " 3 

= ? o s 



il: 



48 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 




Yosemite Indian lliiNk4*t-Miiker. \\on\iiiu ii Imrilrn hiiNket. 
large liaNket to the left in for oooklug. 



Tlie 



in pathetic words. 
"Kill me, Cap- 
tain," he cried, "as 
von killed my son; 
as you would kill my 
people, if they were 
to come to you. You 
have made my life 
dark. But wait a 
little. When I am 
dead, my spirit will 
make trouble for 
vou and your peo- 
ple. I will follow in 
your footsteps, and 
be among the rocks 
and waterfalls, and 
in the rivers and 
winds. You will not 
see me, but you shall 
fear the spirit of the 
old chief, and grow 
cold." 

Tenaya's appeal to the unknown was as futile as eloquence generally 
is. The white conquest paid no heed to his threats. Steadily rounding up 
the savages, Boling's party captured the last of their band at a rancheria 
or village a few miles above the valley, on a beautiful lake walled by pol- 
ished granite cliffs and domes, which they at once named Lake Tenaya. 
"But it already has a name," Tenaya protested, — " 'Py-we-ack,' Lake of 
the Shining Rocks." The naming of a lake in his honor seemed to him a 
poor equivalent for the loss of his territory. Another chance was given 
him. Taken at last to the Fresno, he soon begged for leave to quit the 
heat and dust of the 
reservation; and on 
his pledge of their 
good beha\Ior, he 
led back his people 
once more to the 
cool spaces of the 
Yosemite. The aged 
sachem himself kept 
faith, but he could 
not control his young 
men. The killing of 

prospectors" in the -l mlirella Tree," a sno«-flattene<l pine a( lieml of Xevaila Fall 




50 



YOSEMITK AXn ITS IIICII SIKKRA 




Aortli l>4»ine, .s4*fii l'r«*iii 



\ alley the next sum- 
mer quickly brought 
a third visit from 
the soldiers, and the 
final dispersion of 
the Yosemitcs. It 
hardly detracts from 
the pathos of Ten- 
aya's losing fight for 
his wild home that 
he and his last hand- 
ful of followers were 
killed by Monos 
whose hospitality 
they had repaid by 
basely stealing their 
horses. The Indian 
code did not recognize other people's property rights in li\e stock. 

Present-day visitors to ^ osemite are often disappointeil that their first 
impression of the height of the Valley walls falls short of published ac- 
counts. Yosemite magnitudes are not quickly realized. Hven Dr. Bun- 
nell was ridiculed by Captain Boling and others when he estimated the 
superb granite cliff opposite their camp as at least fifteen hundred feet 
high. Some guessed fi\e hundred, others eight hundred. Not even Bun- 
nell himself dreamed that El Capitan actually towered more than three- 
fifths of a mile above the silent Merced. 

Its Indian inhabitants gone, Yosemite soon came into public notice. 
As early as 1855, the first tourist parties visited the Valley. Trails were 
quickly opened, rude inns established, and, in 1864, John Conness, a Senator 
from California, introduced and Congress passed an act granting to the 
State "the 'cleft' or 'gorge" in the granite peak of the Sierra Ne\ada 
Mountains . . . known as the Yosemite \'alley, with its branches or 
spurs, and in average width one mile back from the main etigc of the 
precipice, on each side of the Valley, with 
the stipulation, nevertheless, . . . that 
the premises shall be held for public use, 
resort, and recreation." To this grant was 
added the " 'Mariposa Big Tree Grove,' 
not to exceed the area of four sections." 
In 1890, Congress created the Yosemite 
National Park, subject to the grant of 
1864. Its lines have since been modified 
considerably by Acts of 1905 and 1906, 
excluding the head basins of the north and 
middle rorks or the San Joaqum, and em- venmi i-aii. 





The *'<'ieneral Grant" and ''General Sherman", «'ith the "l-'oiir (■iiitrilMiiieii". in (lie >Iariposa 
Grove. Readers should not confuse the t\V4» trees here tvhieh popular eustoni has named 
for the famous American soldiers >vith the f»lder and larger trees thus called in the General 
Grant and Sequoia ( Roosevelt ► National F'arks, farther south. These trees, ho^vever, are 
4»f eonsiderahle size, the "Grant" havin;^ a diameter «»f twenty-one and the "Sherman** of 
tiventy feet. The "Guards" are younger trees of sreat heauty, averaKlnc perhaps fifteen 
feet in diameter, and notable for their typical arrtiw-head crowns, not yet broken by 
storm or liK^htnlnf?. The graceful small tree in the center is a young Sequoia. 



52 



YOSEMITK AND ITS HIGH SH:RRA 




.luhii >liiir ill llt'li'h Il('t4*li>. Tlio Irec k1ii»«\ ii 
Imti' is ]| fiiH" «vv.-iin|jlt' ol" ^ I'lliiiv I'iiie. 



bracing more completely the water- 
sheds of the Tuolumne and Mer- 
ced Rivers. Its area, as already 
noted, is now 1,124 square miles. 
The dual administration estab- 
lished by the creation of the Na- 
tional Park surrounding the State 
Park was soon found impracticable 
and disastrous. The State com- 
missioners did the best they could 
with the ten or fifteen thousand 
dollars annually \oted by the Legis- 
lature, but these inadequate appro- 
priations were largely consumed 
in the salaries of park guardians 
and the traveling expenses of the 
commissioners; little was left for 
needed improvements. Much of 
^Osemite Valley was fenced in, and 
let to private contractors. Con- 
flicts occurred between the State 
and Federal authorities. A forest tire, for example, was sometimes left 
to burn while the officers debated as to which jurisdiction was responsible. 
John Muir was one of the first and most active in pointing out the 
importance of ending this impcrhim in impcnu. His opportunity came in 
1903, when he was invited by President Roosevelt to accompany him on 
his visit to Yosemite. Gov- 
ernor Pardee, President 
Benjamin Ide Wheeler of 
the State University, and 
other well-known men were 
of the party, which received 
Mr. Muir's arguments for 
the recession of the \ alley 
and Big Tree grove with 
unanimous approval. 

A \igorous State-wide 
campaign was started by 
the Sierra Club, the strong 
California society of moun- 
tain-lo\ers of which Muir 
was president. The plan ,,i,ii„;.„i, \i,i.,.r^ i.> u..- i..iy./i.> «. o,, i-,, si- 
won ireneroLis suDUort from '''"'" '«"<>'"■»<■"•■'' ■'«'•< "■■<• <ii<i<'ni imh.im.i :inii <...». 

UOIl gCllClOUS SUppi^llL llUill ,.„r,|,... s l<-ll. .loiiii Miiir. il.ii.inii.iM iili- \\ii.-.l,-r. 

the newspapers of the State, rt.-. <>ii< ..i iiii~ »i»ii Br.->> <ii.- ■■.•••.■s»i..ii ..i i.>s.-iiiii.- 

,, ^. IX'* \'iiil«-^ 1111(1 ill*' >liiri|i*iNii <;rove. niiil lln'ir iii*-or|iorii- 

as well as from tfie .\ati\e ,„„> \» nu- ^l.».•lllil.• \iiii<>ii:ii rnrk. 




THE YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK. 



5.? 



Sons and other large organizations; and was eventually successful, though 
its advocates had to overcome bitter opposition, both at Sacramento and in 
Washington, from certain politicians and favored concessionnaires whose 
private interests conflicted with the public advantage. 

The recession, which was accomplished in 1905, has been amply justi- 
fied by its results. Better order prevails, a beginning at least has been 
made in the building of needed roads, hundreds of miles of trails have been 
opened, the forests are protected, and in every way the rights and con\-e- 




Forest Fire on Soiith F<trk 4»f the >Ier<'ecI. in'ar Wawoiia. This iiieture. n f»»rreful ser- 
lil<»n n^^nitiKt careles.sncMs with lire on iiiolliitain trails. I<»(»lvs iliiwn fri>iii W aiv<»na I'oint. 
aln)ve the >lari|»osa (;r<>ve <»f llij;" Trees, The priceless Seliu(»i:is themselves iiii;^lit h:n e 
been ruined had not this ;ireat 4*onllaK'ratioii heen extinguished. 

nience of the public are promoted. The Federal management, while some- 
times severely criticised, and not always unjustly, has obtained and eco- 
nomically expended Congressional appropriations now annually a\eraging 
$300,000, and this money has paid for improvements that would still be 
lacking under the clumsy dual system. Xo one who views the matter im- 
partially can now be found to ad\"ocate a return to the old regime. For 
the far-sighted Park Administration of to-day is developing here, as rapidly 
as Congress can be persuaded to pro\ide the means, a real people's recrea- 
tion ground, commensurate with the public need and the opportunity af- 
forded by the Park's scenic resources. Under the system of divided rule 
such progress would not have been achiexed in a century. But much is. 
still to be done. 



54 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 



When I first jour- 
neyed up to the Yo- 
semite highlands, 
twenty-four years 
ago, the name "Yo- 
semite"" signified, 
e\"en to a majority of 
Californians, merely 
the seven-mile cation 
known as Yosemite 
Valley, with its sen- 
sational cliffs and 
cataracts, its for- 
ested floor, the curi- 
ous domes towering 
upon its rim, and for 
some visitors the 
Mariposa (Jirove of 
(jiant Sequoias, seen 
en route. To reach 
even this limited 
goal cost heavily in 
time, comfort and 
money. The number 
of visitors, natural- 
ly, was small, and 
their stay short. Few 

T}|>i.:il I'.. rest Trail on the Sunny \<.spniil<- l|il:inils. Sunrise pCnCtratcd bcyOnd 
Trjiil. leading from Little Yosemite to TuoUliiine Meadoivs. fhp nnteA Vallev tCi 

view the yet nobler High Sierra. Clarence King and John Muir, almost 
alone among men who commanded a public hearing, had done something 
by exploration and writing to interest their fellow-countrymen in that great 
sunlit hinterland which stretches up to California's far, snow-capped sky- 
line. But roads into this alpine paradise were wholly lacking, trails were 
scarce, and only expert mountaineers quit the beaten track. 

It was then quite commonly assumed that our National Parks were to 
be left for the most part in their virginal wildness, — something which the 
general public would neither need nor care for, and which would be visited 
chiefly by professed nature-lovers. Only an inspired dreamer like Muir, 
or an enlightened foreign observer of our national needs like Bryce, could 
have foreseen that the public itself would soon demand their development 
for the relief and instruction of the people at large, and especially of the 
inhabitants of our superheated valleys and towns. 

Recognition of this requirement has been slow, and nowhere slower 
than in Congress, among politicians absorbed in securing for their own 





Mi 






56 



YOSEMIll. AM) IIS lll(;il SIKKKA 




A I'lose Stniifl of (. la 111 ^i (liti>t;t^. U ,1 11.^ l;i^ 1 i . . ^ >,., , .4<l .i i i It* 1 1 liii^t-, lik«- I lit- «*iii- on I lie 
It'll. «lii«*li is 4'r('(lit(Ml ivilli ,-i ili:iiii('l«-r *»f iiior** than t«enly-Hvt' ftM't. Hut lliis rapidly 
ilitninislifs al»<»ve, so that at lliirt> f(*«*l fr«»iii tlie f^riiuiKl it iN |»r4ilial*l.v It's.s tii;ill 
liftccu feet. 



districts the largest, fattest slices from the pork barrel. "Statesmanship" 
has ne\-er been keen for what it contemptuously terms "scenery." It was 
eleven years after California recedetl the Valley and Big Tree Grove 
before the Congressional grants exceeded $100,000. But beginning in 
1916-17, the Park has had approximately $300,000 a year for upkeep ami 
betterments. This is about one-half the sum, conservatively estimated in 
view of the increasing rush of \isit()rs, that should be spent annually for 

five or six vears on 
^ well-planned roads 
alone, if the Park is 
to be made accessi- 
ble in proper degree 
to those who most 
need its opportuni- 
ties for rest, inspi- 
ration and sport. 

It will surprise 
many who read this 
to learn that all of 
the roads entering 
the ^'osemite Na- 
tional Park have 




i'rossinK t'ohl I aaoii ^It'ado^vs. itn li-aii Ix'f \\ I't'ii I oiiiit'ss ('re«'k 
and \'iruinia t'afion. This is n 1>|iical lillt-d ulat'ial lake. 
There are hiindreils of sik-Ii lironil. sliiiiiiiu niilaiiil inendti^vs 
in the l*ark. eaeli a park in itself. ear|»cted %%itli the finest 
STasH and hrllliant ^vith al|»ine Hif^vers. 



THE YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK. 



57 



been built by private enterprise, none by the Government. There are five 
of these, and three are old toll roads which the Park Administration has 
taken over and is now maintaining, in spite of grades often as high as 
twenty per cent., for want of money to re-locate them. The road descend- 
ing the south wall was made by the owners of Wawona, the well-known 
mountain inn on the route to the Mariposa Big Trees. The Coulterville and 
Big Oak F'lat Roads were also originally toll roads. With elevations well 
above six thousand feet, all three of these highways are sometimes closed 




111 Ten Lake llasin. This re&'ion. lyinp: between "^It. H«>iViiian anil the Tuoliiiiiiie <*raii(l 
Caiion. offers delightful lake seenery, tine tisliiiiK. ami beautiful forests. \t :iii altitiiile 
of !t,.'UO feet, the trees .seen here are the shapely niouiitaiii heniloek, with tttlier habitues 
of sub-alpine levels. It is reaelied by trail from the Tio^^a Roail. 

by snow till June. The fourth road into the Park leads up the wild Mer- 
ced Canon, from the terminus of the Yosemite Valley Railroad at El Portal. 
It was built in 1907, and although its fourteen miles lie almost wholly 
within the Park, the Government compelled the railway to build it, in order 
that it might deliver its passengers by "auto-stages" at Yosemite Village. 
This fine highway the Park Administration also owns now, and has been 
forced by the tremendous traffic of heavy vehicles to regrade it. The road 
will be hard-surfaced as soon as money can be had for that purpose. 

These roads were all built to bring people to Yosemite Valley, none 
to carry them into the uplands above it. Over the three ridge roads, not- 
withstanding their short season, came most of the 13,400 private automo- 
biles which entered the Park last year. The fourth road, extending as it 



58 YOSEMITE AND ITS HKiH SIERRA 

does only from Yosemlte to Fl I'ortal, is as yet merely a continuation of 
the railway. But the State road now building back into the Sierra from 
Merced, and already completed as tar as the village of Mariposa, will 
doubtless be finished to El Portal within two years. Laid on easy grades, 
this will give automobilists a well-made highway, following the level of the 
Merced River, directly to the floor of the Valley. Open all the year, it 
will make Yosemite the most thronged of California winter resorts, the 
Mecca of every tourist, as of multitudes of Californians; while in summer 




i>llliiiiii(>tll I'eiik 4 11!, 22.' ft.). Keen fr4»iil Hullo 1*ii.sn. en route to Bloody f'aflon. 

it will carry into the Park an unbroken procession of motor vehicles from 
all parts of the State, led by an army of refugees from the sun-baked San 
Joaquin and Sacramento Valleys. 

Yosemite Valley is thus threatened with a popularity which all lovers 
of its gentler values may well deprecate, — a patronage they would fain see 
spread over a wider area. It is in grave danger of speedily becoming the 
most overcrowded tourist center in America. Only prompt relief through 
the providing of easy access to the highlands can prevent the destruction 
of much of its charm. Beginning with the admission of automobiles, in 
1915, the congestion of hotels and hotel camps, and even of the public 
camping grounds, has grown apace. But this park-like vale, with all a 
park landscape's delicacy of flowers and trees, was not planned by Nature 
for the bivouac of a city's population. The need of roads to the upland 
eastward has cried aloud to Congress for years. To-day the lack of them 
is a scandal. To-morrow, with the completed State road from Merced 
pouring lifty thousand automobiles into this cul-cle-sac in a sunmier. it will 



60 



VOSKMITK AM) MS IllCn SIKKRA 



be a crime, — a crime against the people, for whose recreation and instruc- 
tion the Park, was set apart, and who need the great open spaces of the 
High Sierra; and equally a crime against the priceless beauty of the Valley 
floor, where forest and flowers now suffer increasingly from the vandalism 
of transient campers. But still Congress halts. Those who would escape 
the crowds and noise of the \'alley can gain little of the high country save 

by climbing rough mountain trails. 
That method of travel, though it un- 
questionably has much to commend it. 
is impracticable for many who need 
the uplands most. Only one district 
east of the \'alley is now reached by a 
highway, — an interesting old moun- 
tain road, built for the teams of a 
mining company, with the happy dis- 
regard of all mining roads for grades, 
and no expectation of e\er serving 
automobile tra\el. 

This is the fifth of the roads into 
the Park, to which I ha\e referred, 





YounK l.iikf. I\y 
iiiilfs north of 
Tlluliiiiiiu' >lr:Hl- 
o«s, ivilh twtt 
Kill end id iiioiiii- 
t :i i II II e i u !i lio r N : 
nliovf. Haiilifd 
IVak (l(l.s.".s fi.i; 
below. .>lt. <"oii- 
neKS (12,"il> ((.I. 




and the only one now leading to the Yosemite High Sierra. It was not 
constructed as a toll road, but merely to give access to certain mineral pros- 
pects east of Tioga Pass. The mining operations failed, and the road 
fell into disuse, though its owners, to preserve their title, dragged a wagon 
over it once a year. Bought five or six years ago and given to the Govern- 
ment by the public-spirited Director of the National Parks, Mr. Stephen T. 
Mather, it has since received such partial repairs as the inadequate Park 
appropriations made possible, and been used by a tide of motor travel 
w^hich bears convincing testimony to the need of modern roads from "^ o- 
semite Valley to the upper country. If the Congressmen responsible could 



THE VOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK. 



61 



hut once be driven in automobiles over this antiquated road, on its tedious 
way to the High Sierra, there might be a prompt ending of the neglect which 
has so long left the Valley lacicing proper connection with its hinterland. 

For the Tioga Road never ap- 
proaches the Valley, and affords 
but a difficult and makeshift out- 
let to the increasing crowds there. 
Our maps show it crossing the 
entire central zone of the Park. 
But it holds throughout to the 
highland parting the Merced and 
Tuolumne Rivers. Passing Alt. 
Hoffman at Snow Flat, north of 
Yosemite, it drops to Tenaya 
Lake, thence following the cai"ion 
seen on page 16 to Tuolumne 
Meadows, the chief camping and. 
mountaineering base on the upper 
Tuolumne. Climbing then to the 
Park's east boundary at Tioga 





.eavins' Yosemite 
\ationnl I":irk via 
T i o ;i II Pass a ii ft 
the l,ee>iiiiii«: 
f'anoii Itoad. The 
lower ^ lew looks 
l>nek thri»iiK'h the 
Park Kates, at the 
s Ilium it of the 
Pass l!).!UI ft.), 
to 11 ts. Dana and 
Gililis and Ktina 
Crest. Above is 
-seen the State 
ronil. IiliiiK' on the 
eiinoii >vall. 



Pass, it joins the notable highway which California has built down Leevin- 
ing Creek Canon to Mono Lake and north to Lake Tahoe. At Tenaya 
Lake the road has. by Snow Creek Trail, its closest practicable contact with 
Yosemite. But while Tenaya, with its convenient lodge and its loud call 
to campers, is only eight miles by air-line and fourteen by trail northeast 
of Yosemite Village, automobiles bound for it must leave the Valley on 
the Big Oak Flat Road, climbing westward up the great north wall, then 
travel outside the Park to a junction with the Tioga Road, and there turn 



62 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 



east to the lake, — a journey of sixty-one miles over roads never meant for 
a gasoline car. Yet such is the pressure for the High Sierra and the fasci- 
nation of the Yosemite-Tahoe trip that several thousand private automo- 
biles travel this route from the Valley each summer. 

The new road most needed in the Park, therefore, is by common con- 
sent a well-graded modern highway which will avoid this long detour, and 
connect directly with the Tioga Road at Tenaya Lake. Such a road, by 
enabling automobilists quickh' to reach Tuolumne Meadows, will double 




Sunset on ^loiiii 



Lake. Viewr from Pniiha Island, with the Sierra Nevada in (he diNtanee. 
Mt. Dana n:!,0.'0 ft.) accentN the sliy-line on left. 



the possibilities of pleasure in every visit to Yosemite. This requirement 
forms the most important item in the road-building plans formulated by 
Superintendent W. B. Lewis, for which every lover of the Yosemite Sierra 
will wish the Park Administration success in its effort to get a prompt and 
adequate Congressional appropriation. The route proposed necessarily 
offers many engineering problems; nevertheless the sum required is mod- 
erate. And it is agreed that this is the most feasible and least costly route 
on which a road can be carried quickly from the Valley floor to the upper 
country. The road will leave the Valley at Happy Isles, following up the 
Merced Canon past Vernal and Nevada Falls, skirt the foot of Clouds 
Rest, cross boulder-strewn Forsyth Pass, at an elevation of about 9,000 
feet, and zigzag swiftly down to Tenaya Lake. Its total of approximately 
twenty miles will cut forty-one miles from the present roundabout journey 
to that lake via Crane Flat, and so will absorb practically all travel from 




u , 



- a 



s 
5J 



if 



3 5 



s s 

T S 

— a 



^ — 
n e 

= 2 
2 = 



a , a 

= |H 

III 

1 s 

= ■: • 

res 
s 



a 

? 



64 



vosr.Miri. AM) US hkjii sikkra 



^ osemite to the I uoluinnc and lioga Pass. Such a roail, besides greatly 
shortening the trip to Soda Springs, and drawing thousands to the delight- 
ful country north and east of Tenaya Lake, will also stimulate travel to the 
upper Merced, by carrying visitors to the top of Nevada Falls for the start 
on their foot or horseback journey to Lake Merced, Lake Washburn, and 
the head\\ater peaks. 

The most eftectixe step yet taken to make the National Parks of prac- 
tical use to the people was the admission of private automobiles. The 

result, in the Yo- 
semite Park, is 
indicated by the 
two totals, 15,145 
\, ^M . ■mil li «:^^ m^K^KiL and 68,906, one 

representing the 
visitors in 1914, 
the other those of 
1920. Regarding 
the second total, 
the most signiti- 




I'lKiii.siiiiil isliiiiil Lake 
one of the iiiiiMt 
in lercsf iii;^ alpine 
laiieN ill the ) u- 
Keinite r«>;i'ii»n. The 
iiiwer pictllri'. I'r4,nt 
(he fiMit III' llan- 
ner i*eak iiiokin;^ 
n4ii' t liwa r<i. iiii;^lii 
be niiNlakeii I'or our 
«»f the Seoteh ili^Ii- 
iaiKl lofllN; hut the 
re\erse \ !*•»% Ii:is an 
iiitnii.st:ik;ihie no),' 
of the IliKh Sierra 
s^'enery in its most 
4*liar:ieter ist ie and 
inspiriHK- form. 




cant facts are that 46,074 of these people entered the Park in their own 
cars, 13,418 in number; and that morert|ian 25,000 of them camped in the 
public camping grounds on the floor o.F' the Valley. These figures prove 
that the people of California, in their need of escape from the hot low- 
lands, are themselves making the opening of the Yosemite High Sierra 
imperative. Unless this is promptly and intelligently pushed, the conges- 
tion in the Valley will shortly render conditions there fatal in large measure 
to its beauty, and intolerable to the public. 

Congressional appropriations have built more than three hundred 
miles of good roads in Yellowstone National Park, and similar justice to 
the needs of Yosemite Park will give. Superintendent Lewis the compara- 



66 



YOSEMITE AND IIS HIGH SIERRA 



tively modest sum 
of $3, 290,000 which 
he is now asking 
Congress to appro- 
priate for road con- 
struction and recon- 
struction, to cover 
a period of five 
years. Congression- 
al grants to this 
Park have hitherto 
been devoted for 
the most part to 
"maintenance," and 
merely served to 
keep up the old 
roads taken over by 
the Cio\ernment. Of 
such roads there are 
138 miles within the 
Park limits, and for 
the betterment of 
these, including the 
much-needed paving 
of the roads on the 
Hoor of Yosemite 
Valley and to El 
Portal, Mr. Lewis 
asks $1,280,000 of 
his itemized total. 
The newly located 
road across Forsyth 
Pass will call for 
$1,500,000. This 
might seem a scant 
estimate to those ac- 
quainted with the 
cost of other moun- 
tain roads, but knowing the work already accomplished with small sums by 
this efficient engineer, we may be confident Mr. Lewis will give the Park 
an adequate highway on the amount named. But he first must get the 
money; and Congress is most unlikely to vote it until California's Senators 
and Representatives at Washington can forget politics long enough to insist 
on the proper development of the greatest national asset within their State 
for the health and pleasure of the American people. 




The I>e\'llN l*osl|iilt*, a strikinf:: outcrop of ooliiiiinnr hnsalt. on 
Ihe licaclwaterj* «if the ^lidille Fork of San .lonquiii Itiver, 
fifteen inile.s east «if AoNeniite National Park. I.ava. in rool- 
inK. often l>re:ik.s in .siieli iiillar.s, <-(»iiiiii,»iiIy liexaK(>nai in 
eroNM-Neetion, anil s<iiiietiineN, as here, *tt 4-onMiileral>le hei;::ht. 
The nio.st fninoiiN of siieh iilienoiiien:i is tlie <ii:ints t'ause- 
VfSky, on the north eoa.st of Ireland. The Perils I'ostpile is 
In the region, onee ^vitliin the ) oseniite I'ark iMtiindjiries. 
>vhieli <',»n«ress is askeil to restore to the I'ark. 




Imke Tahoe. ThiN famous lake, riiiiined by the nnon y ranges of the luirtlieni Sierr:i, HeN a 
hundred nifleN north of the Yoseinite National Park, from nhioh it is reached both by rail 
and automobile roads. It has an elevation of (t.l!l!r> feet, and an area of -04 square miles. 
The re-opening: of the Tiog:a Roail eonneots Tahoe and Vosemlte more directly than ever 
before, making; the ^ osemlte-Tnhoe trip one of the finest possibilities of a visit to either 
of these s:rent scenic resorts. 




0\ «Tli:tiiKiiiu Kock lit <ila«'UT I'oiiit. llii' iii4»n( fntiioii.s niul iiii|i(»rtant \ iow poinl on tin' i Ini of \ u- 
Neiiiitr \ nlU-.v. From It (lit' N|t«'4'tator ItuikN diiwii :t.:t.*t7 feet tit the >lert'efl, ivIiiilitiK anions for- 
e*<'N iiihI ■n4-ailoY\s. it ml imtomn (41 I lie heaiitifiil 1 oNeiiiile Fall. drupiklnK nearly half a lulle out 
of ItN own hanKinK* valley. 




Meroecl Iliver niiil the Forest in Vosemite. H;ilf Dome is seen in the distanee (center), 
with the lloynl Arehes on the left :in«l the vast projeetinji,- pro^v of (ilaeier l*olnt on 
the right. 



II. 



THE CANON OF YOSEMITE. 



The cataracts blow their trumpets from the steep; 
No more shall grief of mine the season wrong; 
I hear the echoes through the mountains throng, 
The winds come to me from the fields of sleep. 

— If-'illiam ff'orJs<i!;oit/i. 

"Of the grandest sights I have enjoyed, — Rome from the dome of St. 
Peter's, the Alps from Lake Como, Mont Blanc and its glaciers from 
Chamouni, Niagara, and Yosemite, — I judge the last named the most 
unique and stupendous." — Horace Greeley. 

"The only spot I have ever found that came up to the brag." 

— Ralph Waldo Emerson 

|ARLY visitors to Yosemite paid well for its pleasures. To reach 
the Valley by any of the old routes, before the day of automo- 
biles, or even of railway trains to the border of the Park, meant 
a hot and dusty ride of two or three days, in a primitive vehicle, 
over the roughest of mountain roads In common with thousands of 
others, I painfully recall my first trip. We quit the train from San Pran- 
cisco at Raymond, to endure a day of misery in a crowded "stage," which 
jolted us up from the low country into the noble valley of the South Pork 
at Wawona. That hot and dusty ride made the friendly little inn there, 
when we finally reached it, seem as luxurious as a metropolitan hotel. The 
next day was spent among the Mariposa Big Trees. The third carried 
us across the broad Wawona ridge to Inspiration Point and the hard-won 
vision of Yosemite itself. We were bruised and happy. 

Many visitors still come and go by the Wawona route, motoring 
in their own cars from all parts of California, or leaving or returning to 




70 



YOSEMITE AND US HIGH Sn:RRA 



the railway at Merced by the com- 
fortable "auto-stages." Automo- 
biles, good roads, and improved ho- 
tel service have robbed the trip of 
its terrors. The traveler is able to 
enjoy fully the increasing interest 
of a wonderful ride, as his motor 
climbs swiftly back among the 
.!;reat, forested hills of Wawona. 
It is a country which, e\en without 
\'osemite or the Mariposa Grove, 
might well draw him to its own 
splendid outlooks, deep valleys, and 
tine waterfalls and lakes, — a sports- 
man's paradise that should have its 
place in any extended Yosemite out- 
ing. 

The Wawona route, like the 
Big Oak Flat road north of the 
Merced, is recommended by the 
fact that it gi\es the incoming vis- 
itor his introduction to Yosemite 
\'alley from the heights. Few 
things in this world can exceed the 
surprise and pleasure of that view. 
Nearing the rim of the plateau, the road suddenly leaves the forest for a 
turn far out on a rocky promontory. More than a thousand feet below, 
the river lies, a white thread, at the bottom of its gorge. The foreground 
is wild and unformed, — an abyss fringed by projecting crags and pinnacles, 
and barren save for a few rugged and adventurous pines clutching the 
ledges. But eastward opens the famous Valley, always, when seen from 
the heights, more im- 
pressive than imagi- 
nation has conceived 
it. Its nearest cliffs 
tower almost as far 
above as the river lies 
below, while, miles 
beyond, the great pic- 
ture closes with domes 
and peaks lightly sil- 
houetted against the 
softest blues and 
whites of the cloud- 
necked Sierran sky. ••»«• Englnnd llrlilB*-," m U .•nvonn. l.uiH by Onlen Clark. ISTO. 




< hiliiuatiia l-'alls, iii-.-ir Watiiiiia; 4»ne of the 
most beautiful series of oataraets anil ras- 
eades in the l*ark. 




THE CANON OF YOSEMITE 



71 




llridal Aeil >leiiiU>t\. on the route 4tf tlic ;iii«'ieiit l*(>li«>iii» 4wl:icier. :iiiil iio%t reni'heil by 
I'ohoiio Trail. Such sunny glacial fl:it.s, lnrf::e and .small, tellin;^ of old lakes lon^r 
since transformed by stream-n':isli. are come upon everyivhere bel€>«- timber line, on 
forest trails or anions the upland granite domes. Homes of floM-ers and deer, musical 
with the song; of birds, they are anions' the delifAlitfiil surprises of the Park, 

It is a picture one can not afford to miss, and if he comes to Yosemite 
by rail, as many do, he will lose much of its beauty if he fails to see the 
Valley from Wawona Road. I do not wonder that every artist wants to 
paint his interpretation of Yosemite's message from the sublime outlooks 
on or near this road, as it rises out of the caiion; or that the scene inspires 
such admirable paintings as Hill, Moran, Jorgensen, and others have made 
here. But all nature-lovers will indorse Mr. Chase's protest against the 
cheap, bromidic names given these view-points. It does not add to the 
inspiration of the scene to be told, "This is Inspiration Point!" There is 
both good humor and good sense in what Chase says: 

Inspiration, in any case, is a timid bird, which appears without advertisement, delights 
not in sign-boards, and the louder it is whistled for is the more apt to refuse to come. I have 
heard the spot spoken of by warm and jocular young gentlemen as Perspiration Point; and 
although that species of witticism is, generally speaking, distasteful to me, I find that I suffer 
no pang when it is practiced at the expense of this piece of pedantry. — Yosemite Trails, p. 2S. 

Since the Park was opened, in 1915, to private automobiles, an in- 
creasing tide of visitors each year reaches Yosemite Valley over the old toll 
roads, now maintained and improved by the Park Administration. This 
motor-car travel is pretty fairly divided between the north- and south-side 
routes. Great numbers enter by Wawona and Chinquapin, and descend 
from the South rim to the Valley floor just west of Bridal Veil Fall. Cars 
coming over the Big Oak Flat Road, through Groveland and the Bret 



72 



YOSKMITE AND ITS HIGH SIKKKA 



Harte Country, rich in memories of the "Days of "49," drop rapidly down 
from the Tuolumne Big Tree (jrove, via the spectacular viewpoints of the 
sheer north wall, to the site of the former El Capitan bridge, opposite 
Cathedral Rocks. Smaller numbers come by Coulterville, that road reach- 
ing the Merced level a little west of Cascade Palls, and four miles west of 
El Capitan. All of these high-level roads will lose much of their incoming 
patronage when the State of California finishes its new highway from the 




The ller<'**»l Ui\iT. Ilir**** milt's iilMivt* h'A l*or(:il. 'I'll*' Kliarp \ -Mliiipf of Ih*' Kiirst' iiiili- 
ontes that it was mainly cut l»y stream erosi»ni. rather tiian by the ulat-ier which 
earveil the I -sh.-i|)e<l eaiion uf \iiNeniife above. Ahiii)^ tliis wild troliu'h. tilleil with 
hoiihlers from the 4'lill's. an excellent alltonioliile roiul has Ix'en hllilf at K'reat c«>st. 

town of Mariposa to El Portal, though the Wawona route will no doubt 
gain in its actual total because of increased travel from the Valley to the 
Big Trees. The completion and surfacing of the Mariposa-El Portal 
Road, as has already been said, will give motorists a low-level boulevard, 
open all the year, from the San Joaquin countrv directly on to the floor of 
the Valley, and without question will quickly multiply present travel totals. 
A multitude of Yosemite visitors use the quicker service of the rail- 
way, in preference to automobiles on the present steep mountain roads. 
This number includes, too, the Eastern tourists who have not brought their 



THE CANON OF YOSEMITE 



73 



motors to California. Leav- 
ing the Santa Ve or South- 
ern Pacific system at the 
pleasant little city of Mer- 
ced, through "sleepers" car- 
ry them over the Yosemite 
Valley Railroad to El Por- 
tal, its terminus, just outside 
the Parli boundary. This 
road is a noteworthy piece 
of railway building. A few 
miles above Merced, it en- 
ters the gorge of the Mer- 
ced River, which it follows 
for the rest of its seventy- 
eight miles, as the canon 
sinks deeper into the range. 
F'or most of this length, it 
was blasted out of the solid 
granite, or cleated upon 
wall of the gorge. Below 
it, the Merced winds and 
plunges in a narrow, tortu- 
ous bed, which is dammed 
here and there to suppK 
power for quartz and lum- 
ber mills. Gold mining has 
been in progress here for 
seventy years, the old placer 
workings, of which the 
river-channel still shows 
many scars, having long 
since given place to under- 
ground mines. 

P>om El Portal, auto- 
mobile stages run not only 
to Yosemite, but also to 

,1 TV * J J HP 1 t'aseacle FnllN, f<)Ur iiiile.s «e.st of I'M C'aiiitan. 

the Merced and 1 uolumne 

Groves of Big Trees. These small areas contain some fine trees, and the 
journey to them is one of great interest. Even if there were no Giant 
Sequoias in prospect, the ride would be worth while. The road, as it 
climbs the hills, unfolds magnificent views of Yosemite and the lower Mer- 
ced Valley. The forests of pine, fir and cedar through which it passes 
are among the most interesting in the State. 

A ride of twelve miles from El Portal, over a remarkable automobile 




74 



YOSEMITE AND ITS Ilk. II SIKKKA 



road of easy grades, brings the \ is- 
itor to Yosemite. This highway 
upthewild Merced canon, although 
it lies almost wholly within the 
Park, was originally built by the 
new Yosemite Yalley Railroad in 
1907, in order to get its passengers 
from the terminus at El Portal to 
their destination, Yosemite Village, 
at the center of Yosemite Valley. 
It has now been turned over to the 
Park Administration, a gift to the 
Government, which should itself 
have built a road so necessary for 
public con\enience. For the heavy 
travel has now compelled Congress 
to widen and regrade it, at a cost 
of $325,000. The work has been 
admirably done under direction of 
the Superintendent of the Park, 
Mr. W. B. Lewis; but to preserve 
it from destruction under the in- 
creasing traffic, a further appropri- 
ation is urgently needed for surfac- 
ing it. The road is one of the most 
celebrated mountain highways in America. It deserves its fame. From 
El Portal almost to the gates of the Valley, it had to be cut out of the 
granite hillsides. All about it is a scene of colossal disorder, the work 
of avalanche and earthquake, filling the canon with mighty boulders from 
the cliffs above, over which the swift river foams in continuous cascades. 
One great waterfall is passed be- 
fore we reach Yosemite, though 
among the multitude of cataracts 
hereabout it is so inconspicuous 
that the automobile driver may 
rush by it without calling his passen- 
gers' attention to its beauty. This 
is Cascade Falls, seen on the left, 
where Cascade Creek pours from 
the north wall of the caiion, live 
hundred feet, in a deep recess close 
to the road. So fine a sight should 
not be overlooked. It prepares one 
for the still ampler magnificence of wimc-r sii.iris in voseniite. "Skiing immi 

, , r> • 1 1 T r ■IT-' 11 I 1 Mio«-sliot'iiij; draw iii;inj- iiiirties to tliv 

the ramous ondal Veil rail ahead. vnii.-j ca<-h winter. 




Bridiil \ ei 



Fall, seen in early Winter friun 
the jfouth-side rond. 





Bridal VeU Fall, the Indinn Pohono. Dropping 620 fee*. «i<li 200 feet of easondes below it. tUis 
fall is noteivortiij- in its setting, and perhaps the most craoeful in form of nil the Yosemitc 
eataraefs. \o;e llie "eoiiiefs" — arrow-like masses of water shooting i*nt from the fall. 



76 



YOSEMITE AM) ITS II Kill SIERRA 







<'iif lic(lr:it SpirvN, iiinsMive ;A'raii- 
i(«' iiiniiiit'lf.s ejlKt of C:lthe- 



Soon, quitting the narrow cluttered wild- 
ness of the lower river, the newcomer is face 
to face with the ordered peace and glory 
of Yosemite itself. (jratefuUy, silently, he 
breathes the \ery magic of the Knchanted Val- 
ley. For here, fully spread before him, is that 
combination of sylvan charm with stupendous 
natural phenomena which makes Yosemite 
unique among earth's great pictures. He sees 
the caiion's level floor, telling of an ancient 
glacial lake that has given place to wide, grassy 
meadows; fields of glad mountain flowers; 
forests of many greens and lavenders; the 
fascination of the winding Merced. River of 
.Mercy; and, gleaming high above this world 
of gentle loveliness, the amazing gray face 
of El Capitan, while Pohono drops from a 
"hanging valley" superbly sculptured, and so 
lieautiful that he may well deem it the noblest 
setting Nature has given to any of her famous 
waterfalls. No human architect of landscape 
could have devised so perfect a composition. 

Here, too, at the very 
gates of the Valley, we 
find an invaluable key to 
the problem of its ori- 
gin. As we followed up 



the Merced, we have thus far seen it everywhere a 
turbulent canon stream. But at the base of Cathedral 
Rocks its character changes. For seven miles above 
that point, it is the most peaceful of meadow-bor- 
dered rivers, with only a few feet of fall as it mean- 
ders indolently down the level valley floor from 
Happy Isles. A little easy investigation, for want 
of which, however, some eminent scientists have gone 
far astray, explains the extraordinary change. 

At the place just mentioned, where I'.l Capitan 
bridge once stood, and where its piers may yet be 
seen, a broad ridge of glacial debris, now covered 
with young forest, and notched by the ri\er channel, 
stretches from the talus slope below Cathedral Rocks' 
a quarter of ai mile across to the rock slide, or earth- 
quake talus, west of El Capitan. It is largely buried 
in silt and river gravel, but about twenty feet of its 
height is visible on the upper side, and twice as much 




I.eopnrfl l.ily ) I., jinr- 
llnlinlliiiK a K'uru'eoiiN 
ornnfi^e - nnfl - iiilrple 
iiit'iiiber of the l.ily 
fniiiily, whieh fr**- 
f| u e n t s the I <» \t e r 
valleys of the Park, 




e 
0. 



a 
z 



a 



78 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 



I» ,. ■ 'r>vf 



W»^r!l^ 




-^dtim 



VA Cjipitnii niul Three IJrolliers. seen from the iiH»r:iiiie sit the f»K>t of Cathedral H«>ekN. 
Tourists of the elass that tiliils its ehirf olit-door interest in diseoverini; zooloKieai 
reseiulil;iMees in natural ohjeets ha\e dllhhed h'A t'apitan "the Crouehinff I. ion of 
\ oseinite." This is a inlsnonier. as the siileiidid hiifj^e riiek is obviously- an elephant! 

below. So solid and level an embankment of soil and boulders, some of 
which have been freighted down from the sea-beach strata back, on the 
highest peaks, and are of rock wholly different from the unbroken areas 
of granite now embracing the entire Merced caiion, is unmistakably a 
glacier's record. Had Prof. J. D. Whitney noted it when, as State geol- 
ogist, he conducted his famous Yosemite survey, fifty years ago, he would 

not have made the 
blunder of his life 
by denying that the 
Valley was due to 
glacial action, or 
said: "There are be- 
low the Valley no 
remains of the mo- 
raines which such an 
operation could not 
fail to have formed." 
For in fact this 
compact earthwork 

.. is simply a terminal 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ moraine, deposited 

A fJlinilise of >orth Dome, from one of the healltifnl forest i ..I- ^ ^^ 

roads in Vosemite Valley. by the great 1 OSCUl- 




THE CANON OF YOSEMITE 



79 



ite Glacier at the point 
where the last of its 
several advances 
stopped, and from 
which its final slow 
retreat began. 

The line of the mo- 
raine, later geologists 
tell us, practically co- 
incides with, and cov- 
ers, a granite bar, or 
sill, which reached 
from El Capitan to 
Cathedral Rocks, and 
formed the dam of 
the ancient Yosemite 
Lake. This body of 
water had the same 
history as hundreds 
of other caiion lakes 
still to be found in the 
High Sierra, occupy- 
ing the depressed 
treads of the huge 
glacial stairways. 
Deep basins were 
quarried by the gla- 
ciers wherever inflow- 
ing branch glaciers 
greatly augmented 
their mass and weight, with a corresponding temporary increase in digging 
power. Glaciers alone produce these rock-basins. Lakes such as Merced 
and Washburn, above Yosemite, and filled lake-beds such as Yosemite and 
Hetch Hetchy Valleys, are found only in the tracks of the vanished ice- 
streams. River erosion never cuts such hollowed steps in water-channels. 
It required the long scouring of incalculable moving ice-masses, armed with 
vast rocks plucked from their beds, to prepare the caiions for the low-set 
lakes, and for the level valleys of the later time. 

Thus the sudden change in the Merced River, from a quiet meadow 
stream to a brawling mountain torrent, recalls vividly to the modern stu- 
dent that distant day when the receding glacier left behind it a beautiful 
lake, seven miles in length and probably four or five hundred feet deep, 
walled by perpendicular cliffs rising more than three thousand feet, and 
dammed by a rocky moraine overlying a granite dike. Where the lake 
ended, the Merced cut an outlet for itself through the moraine. This low 




The "Baok Road," on the south siile 4,f \ ojseiiiite. The tree.s 
.shown are rhiefly California iilaek Oaks (tluerous kelloegiil, 
a deciduows speoie.s that does inueh to beautify the Valley 
floor. Its acorns supply lirend to the Indians, and are prized 
by squirrels and ^Toodpeekers. 



80 



vosr.MriE AM) US iikjii siekka 




Aertiiiliilie \ i«**v of ^Osciiiite l-'alls. Tlif upper cillnraot. tinned liy John .>lllir "the iu»lilest 
diMpf:i> <»f fallhi^A wiiltT in the \"alle>. or perh:tps in tlie \\<»rl(i," li:in;£s in a *vi«ie re«'ess 
^vhieh the old \ (»seinite (ilaeier dii^ iiearl> half a mile haek into the north «\all. 'I'lie 
reetanKular jointing in the granite el«*arlj seen here enahletl the Kla*'ier to unilenniue 
jind overthrow hu^e hloeks of the roek. Itiit east of the falls tlie j(»int-|»lanes cease* 
leavinflT the soliil pr<»jeetiii;^ iiiass <»f "\oseiiiite Point." though \ery liniitefl U»eal tisslir- 
inK' Itloeked out the spire kn<»\vn as Lost Vrrow. seen 4M1 tlie riulit. Vt the elose «>f the 
iclaeial pei iod. the shallows of the €*lilY west 4»f this deep i*oAe loot; kept alive a small 
r«>sidunl Klai'ier, wllieh pushed its iee easeailes down the little canon on the left, where 
now a hf»rse-traU zig;xagK to the tt»p (»f the fall. 

pass is also used by the south-side road, where it skirts the river to-day. 
The lake itself, probably within the last two or three hundred years, if we 
may judge by the trees growing where once was only water, has filled up 
with rich alluvial soil, brought down mainly by spring freshets from near-by 
heights, rather than by the larger river. To this source we owe the fertile 
valley Hoor. with an inestimable part of the beauty of Yosemite. 

That the extraordinary depth and form of Yosemite Valley, as well 
as of Hetch Hetchy and a few other moat-like mountain vales presenting 
the Yosemite type, and therefore generically called "yosemites," are mainly 
due to glacier-plowing and lateral glacier-plucking, which deepened and 
widened river gorges originally cut by water erosion and existing long 
before the glacial epoch or epochs, is a conclusion now so strongly fortified 
by observed facts that few geologists any longer dispute it. If they dilfer 
at all, it is as to the extent of such action, and the preparation by which 
other geological factors, chieHy arising from localized peculiarities of rock- 
structure in the Sierran granites, may have facilitated it. Thus some 
scientists believe that the main Yosemite Glacier reached little below El 
Capitan; others find evidence that convinces them it found its way to the 
foothills. Government experts and others ha\e for years been making a 
minute examination of the region, and gathering data which should solve 
the deepest mysteries of its history. But the main proposition of pre- 
dominant glacial influence can hardly be deemed as any longer at issue. 



THE CANON OF YOSEMITE 



81 




Such agreement, however, is of com- 
paratively recent date. It was Clarence 
King who first ascribed the great caiion to 
the glaciers. John Muir, after establish- 
ing by his exploration of the Illiloiiette 
head-basins the important but long-dis- 
puted fact that true glaciers still exist in 
the Sierra, though fast dwindling in extent 
and power, read from the record broadly 
carved upon the upland abundant proofs, 
as he contended, that all its caiions, with 
most of the other outstanding features of 
the range, were the work of ancient ice- 
streams Prior to these pioneer "glacier- 
ologists" some fantastic theories were held. 
One attributed the Valley to an explosion 
of superheated granite domes, and the 
elaboration by river erosion of the gash 
thus created. Another explained it as a 
rent caused by seismic violence, which later 
was partly filled up with rock debris and 
stream wash. But the most interesting of 
these guesses, and one that for years found 
wide acceptance because of the eminence 
of its author and the violence with which 
he denounced the glacial hypothesis, was the "fault-block" contention of 
Prof. Whitney. Said that once famous geologist: 

A more absurd theory was never advanced than that by which it was sought to ascribe to 
glaciers the sawing out of these vertical walls and the rounding of the domes. Nothing more 
unlike the real work of ice, as exhibited in the .Mps, cnnid be found. Besides, there is no reason 

to suppose, or at least no proof, 
that glaciers have ever occupied the 
Valley, or any portion of it, so that 
this theory, based on entire igno- 
rance of the whole subject, may be 
dropped without wasting any more 
time on it. . . . We conceive that, 
during the upheaval of the Sierra, 
or, possibly, at some time after that 
had taken place, there was at the 
Yosemite a subsidence of a limited 
area, marked by lines of "fault" or 
fissures crossing each other some- 
what nearly at right angles. In 
other and more simple language, 
the bottom of the Valley sank down 
to an unknown depth, owing to its 
support being withdrawn from un- 
derneath. — The Y osemite Guide 
I.UNt Arro«" Triiil, e:ij,t siile i>l' \ 4>.seiiiit4^ i re**k. Book, pp. 7i, 74. 



('lilt' ut Head uf 1 o.semitv Falls, 
showing the vertieal cleavage 
joints iThich have cuiileil the gla- 
eial sculpturing anil made possible 
the sheer walls of Voseinite. Heteh 
Hetohy and similar eauons. 




82 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HICII SIERRA 




r|»|i4T ^ oscmil*' l'':ill. sroii fr«Mn 1 o.s4'iilili* I'oill* Trail. 
Ill Ks drop "( I.^.IO feet, the strrain, rvcn lit llooil, 
lu-i'Diiii-K a flollil of s|>r:ij, «hi4-h the wliiil ontchrs 
an on n ollMliioii, lllid sways from m|41«* to Niile. 



1 I;ul Whitney's examina- 
tion of the Valley been thor- 
ough enough to take note of 
the old moraine below I".l Cap- 
itan, it is probable he «ould 
not ha\e written those words. 
And yet he had other evidence 
that should have prevented his 
error. F^l Capitan Moraine 
and the old Yosemite Lake 
which it helps us to reconstruct 
are far from being the only re- 
minders of the Valley's glacial 
history. Most striking of all, 
rhe hanging valleys on its walls 
are no less clearly of glacial 
origin, and tell us of an epoch 
when ice was irresistibly mod- 
eling the landmarks above, as 
well as digging deeper the vast 
canon below. 

As we pass Bridal \'eil 
Fall, we note that it drops, not 
from a flat plateau abo\e, nor 
from a narrow cleft in the 
wall, but out of a high side- 
\ alley, which in turn is framed 
bv lofty cliffs. The U-shape 
of this broad valley is so clear 
that we at once perceive that 
it, too, must have been scoured 
out by a glacier, rather than 
by Pohono Creek, which could 
ha\e cut only a V-shaped 
gorge. Its sculptor, in fact, 
was a minor glacier, mighty 
enough to dig a splendid wild 
valley more than fifteen hun- 
dred feet deep, but not power- 
ful enough to sink it to the bed 
of the main caiion. Hence, as 
the larger glacier shrank in 
bulk, and ceased to fill the 
greater Valley, the Pohono 
Glacier was left "hanging" on 




VoMeiiiite Falls. Keen from trail throuf^h the pine and oak forest that skirts the north wall 
of the A'alley. The ui>|ier fall, he^inninf!: '2,'iiT* feet above the Valley floor, dropx I,4:t0 feet; 
the loiver fall. '.i'2it feet, nith several siiinller falN between. A'osemite Point. -,!Ktri feet, is on 
the right, and the tall granite .spire in front of it is the **Lost Arron** of Indian legend. 



84 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SH:RRA 




Miilflle YuNeiiiite Fall. -Not easily rfarheil 
and seldom visited, this is the InrK'est 
of several oataraefs in the deep hox 
eaiion liet«'een I'pper and I-o«er "^ o- 
seniite Falls, and has nn estimated 



drop of more than 100 feet 
vie^v on pn^e S.t it is 
above the lower fall. 



tlic siiic, to drop its ice and rocic in a\"a- 
lanchcs upon the trunk, glacier below, 
linally, both glaciers vanished, with 
increasing mean temperature and de- 
creasing snowlall. Of their canons one 
was occupied by the typical glacier- 
made lake of Yosemite, four thousand 
feet above the sea; while the other, for 
want of icebergs to drop into the lake, 
just as plainly declared its origin by 
Hinging out a glacial banner, the most 
graceful, though far from the largest, 
of the Yosemite waterfalls. 

Other famous cataracts hung high 
on the Valley walls repeat the story of 
Bridal Veil. Yosemite Falls, at the 
center of the north wall, and Illilouette, 
on the south wall at the head of the 
N'alley, are the most important in vol- 
ume and length of season, telling by 
their well-defined hanging valleys and 
tan-like amphitheaters, set deep in the 
highlands, that they, too, are glacier- 
born. No more enjoyable occupation 
can be found for part of a Yosemite 
\acation than to trace the old glaciers 
to their sources in the Hoffman and 



view on page S.t it is seen immediately McrCcd SpUrS of thc maiH Sicrra. 



If one follows up Yosemite Creek, 
above its falls, and beyond the old Tioga Road, he discovers a fine cluster 
of glacial cirques, stretching around from the north side of Mt. Hoffman, 
along the southern slope of the Merced-Tuolumne divide, and forming a 
mountain-walled basin, al- 
most circular, and five or six 
miles in diameter. In out- 
line it is like the spreading 
crown of one of the caiion 
live-oaks that cover the 
earthquake talus at the foot 
of the Yosemite wall, and 
beautify the adjacent upland 
roads and trails. This char- 
acteristic abandoned home 
of a minor glacier no longer 
holtis its permanent neve. 




Summit 4»f m, Starr Kin^, showinj; the exf(»lintion of 
the eoiieeiif ric layers of granite by weathering. 



86 



YOSEMITE AXn ITS HIGH SIERRA 



It is to-day merely a temporary res- 
ervoir, sometimes emptied long be- 
fore the autumn ruins begin. There 
the winter snows are held until it 
pleases their parent, the Sun, to 
transform them into summer floods, 
and send them, singing, down the 
valley to join the Yosemite chorus. 
Yosemite Creek now flows to its 
fall amidst a wild panorama of 
gray, barren domes and fir-covered 
moraines. But here for centuries 
a shallow glacier, fifteen miles in 
length and se\eral miles wide, crept 
slowly from the Mt. Hoffman 
Range to meet the great ice-stream 
of the Merced; and when the trunk 
glacier sank low in its caiion, the 
north-sitle feeder dug back its sec- 
tion of the wall until it had quar- 
ried a deep branch canon, in which 
Yosemite Upper Fall now thunders 
its own chapter of the glacial story, 
king of all the world's waterfalls in 

l.oiver Yoseiiiitt' Kjill; droi* :tl!(l feet. i ■ i . i ^ ^ i' 

height anti statelmcss. 

How easily the Yosemite cliffs were undercut and torn away by the 
blows of avalanches from the glacier above may be guessed from the pic- 
tures on pp. 80, 81, showing the wall so deeply fissured by vertical and inter- 
secting cleavage planes that it is merely a standing pile of huge rectangular 
granite blocks, ready to be tumbled over by anv power that can. 

Ihe Illilouette watershed is larger than that of Yosemite Creek, and 
even more interesting, as rimmed by higher mountains. From the "Long 
Trail" approaching Glacier Point, as well as from the hotel there and the 
ridge sou:h of it, we get many fine views of the deep lower valley of the 
Illilouette, encircling Mt. Starr King, and inviting us back to its fountain 
basins sunk in the west flank of the Merced Range. There Mt. Clark, 
and (iray, Red and Merced Peaks, accent as noble a ring of cirques as we 
shall find below the very crest of the Sierra. This watershed, once occu- 
pied by a broad river of ice, is now a land of sunshine, — of flower-meadows, 
shining domes, and densely forested converging moraines, the whole walled 
by snowy mountains that rise to elevations of eleven thousand feet. Some 
idea of it may be had from the illustration on page 22. But its wonder 
and beauty are beyond the power of photography. The best general view 
is to be had from Mt. Clark, or the east slope of Mt. Starr King, whence 
one carries away a lasting picture of what a glacier can do in its vocation 





Illilouette Fall, viewed from its <>auon lu-litw. iliis line «n(»'rfaU 
It is a haril oliinh up Illilouette fniion from the Mereecl Hiver 
wliieli may l»e .seen more easily from above, on the l.on;^' Trail 



has a ilrop of :t70 feet, 
to the foot of the full, 
to (ilaoier l*oint. 



88 



yOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 



as a landscape engineer. 
Differing from these 
three important cataracts in 
their manner of birth, but 
none the less proclaiming a 
glacial origin, Vernal and 
Nevada Falls, at the head 
of the Valley, are the larg- 
est in volume of all the Yo- 
semite group. Instead of 
falling from their own hang- 
ing valleys, backed by inde- 
pendent basins, they are 
part of the Merced itself, 
and drop from giant steps 
in the river's glacial stair- 
way. These steps, like the 




Ifc <'oiie at tin- l-<><it <>r I piior Vo- 
Ncinitr I'all. Tliis volcano-like 
hill rises eaeli m inter to :i height 
of four or live hundred feet, 
formed l>y (he freexinK spriij and 
l>J llloeks of iee fallen fr<ini the 
faee of the elilV. The mouth of 
the eone is about 2(10 feet in 
diameter, says Muir, who looked 
down into it from the lefl;;e seen 
on the riuht in the upper pie- 
tiire. The t*\o sm:ill speeks on 
the side of the eone in the lon-er 
vieiv are the late Calen (lark 
and n eompanion, Hho ellmhed 
it to Ket a look into the •■ernter." 

outstanding sheer cliffs of 
Yosemite. owe their remark- 
able height and perpendicu- 
lar faces to the alternation 
of practically solid granite 
ridges, lying across the path 




C'nuon View ttt \ernal Fall. This is probably the most p(»|>ular of the Park's jr^reat water- 
fallN. Seen from this point, the famous cataract is framed hetiveen the sheer wnllH of 
a deep box canon, ^vhile, beyond, the unique domes of Liberty Cap (right) and Mt. Brod- 
eriok (leftK -supply a fittinix' background to s» imposing a spectacle. ThcNc heights, though 
a mile n%vay. above Nevada Fall, here seem to stand guard immediately over Vernal. 



90 



VOSI.MUK AM) US HKJH SIERRA 




Kc Citntt' ^Iriiiiiri.-il, nt th«- f«M»t of 4ila<'ii*r Point; 4'r4-«'l«'(l tty thv 
Si<Tr:i <'llih in lionor of (h«* late l*rof. .loNcpli l.c 4'4»iite, the 
faiiiollK KcoIoKiNt anil author, <»f the I ni^erNify of California, 
and maintained as the C"lul>N \n.seinite head(lliarter.s. Here 
a lil»r:»r> of ollt-door literature is neee.ssihie t(» tlie pnhiii-. 



of the ancient Mer- 
ced Glacier, with areas 
of looser rock, \erti- 
cally jointed, and 
therefore readily dis- 
integrated by the ice. 
Glacial canon steps 
as high as these are 
exceedingly rare. 
Hence canon water- 
falls of the height of 
Vernal and Nevada 
are elsewhere almost 
unknown, \^•hile cliff 
cataracts of even 
greater fall, dropping 
from hanging valleys 
on the sides of trunk- 
glacier caiions, are a 
familiar feature of every important alpine district. But the two renowned 
falls of the Merced stand quite alone among canon cataracts in their union 
of large volume with great altitude, Vernal falling 317 feet, and Nevada 
594 feet. Not only are they thus exceptional in magnitude, but the glacier 
used the local rock formations to make them different. Each has its own 
special character. Vernal meets all the requirements of an ideal cata- 
ract. — a solid sheet of clear water bend- 

ing easily from the brink of a broad, 
level granite platform, and offering all 
the colors of its own delightful rainbows, 
as the flood changes swiftly from goklen 
green at its brow to optional flashing 
snows in the sunny cafion below. Nc- 
\ada presents a striking contrast to such 
conventional if surpassing beauty. Al- 
ready churned to foam in a steep, crooked 
trough, it is shot far out from its narrow 
cleft, a passionate cloud, seemingly made 
up of millions of distinct, pearl-like 
drops; and midway in its descent it strikes 
the sloping cliff, spreading into a wide 
"apron" of still more dazzling white- 
ness. So splendid are these singing, rain- 
bow-building children of the glaciers. 

The record of these falls is corrobo- 
rated by the rock-basins which the gla- 




M the Head 
projeetiii^' 



f Nevada I'all. Here a 
ledp;e, ffiiariled liy nii 
ir(»ii rail, enaliles visitors ti» stufly 
llie tvild tlo4»d at elose ran^e as it 
(lii\es 4Mlt frtini its steep troii^^ii. 
Iireakin;^ int(» "eoniets" and hu;;'e 
pearls of whitest spray. 




Vernal Fall, from Clark's Point, on the horse trail. Drop. :U7 feet. Althou»?h the most oonven- 
tional of the ;;reat falls in Yosemite, Vernal oilers a maKnilieent pieture. both in its setting anil 
in its wealth of oolor. The golclen greens nntl hliies of the steadily falling stream, its shooting 
"eomets," clouds of spray, and eireular rainbows, make it an ideal study, well worth many visits. 



92 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 



cier scouret] out on their 
plateaus, just as it hollowed 
the basin of Yoseniite Lake 
itself. Emerald Pool, the 
little tarn immediately 
abo\e Vernal I'all, is hardly 
a stone's throw across, but 
unmistakable. River ero- 
sion could ne\'er have fash- 
ioned so perfect a bowl. A 
mile higher up, beyond Ne- 
vada Fall, the basin was 
three miles long, holding a 
lake that has now given 
place to the charming vale 
of Little Yosemite. Here 
bare cliiis and domes frame 
another level valley of 
meadow, forest and lazy 
river, all on about one-half 
the scale of the greater Yo- 
semite below. Other yo- 





GlaritT P4nii1. jlittiiiK into 1 uNeiii- 
ite Vnllt'y at its junction ^vitli 
the 31 eri'cil- lllili»u«'tte faiittii. 
Seen eitiier from tlie \'nllfy 
floor or from the trail to X'ernal 
Kail, this itia^i>iive elifl' in the 
stateliest lieadlarul of the soutil 
^vall. Its iiriM'ipitoiis fnees are 
fine to >ertieal joint-planes. 



Semites lie beyond, uiinl we 
reach the splendid glacial 
lakes, Merced and Wash- 
burn, far up the caiion. 
These, too, in time will fill 
with detritus from the hills, 
and become delightful xal- 
leys of this type. Nature 
abhors barren waters. 



THE CANON OF YOSEMITE 



93 



Glacial history is also written 
plain on the two "domes" that rise 
just north of Nevada Fall, called 
the Cap of Liberty and Mt. Brod- 
erick. These are simply masses of 
unfissured granite, too large and 
solid for the glacier to plane away, 
though it gouged out the vast beds 
of jointed rock in which they lay; 
and as it swept over them, it shaved 
down their east slopes, so that one 
may scale them with little difficulty, 
and find glacial boulders on their 
tops which tell by their rock char- 
acter that they have traveled hither 
from the snowy summits of the 
range, a score of miles to the east. 

Yosemite Valley offers many 
other convincing particulars of the 
life of its great Merced Glacier. 
The beauty of its cliffs is no more ob- 
vious than is their testimony regard- 
ing their origin, outline and sculp- 
turing. Their perpendicular fronts 
and projecting angles, narrowing 
the Valley 





OverhiinpinR- Rock on the Halt Dome, nearly 
a mile above the floor of \ osemite Valley. 
Tenaya Canon is seen belov. 



. T. BOYSEN 



"«ateh lie!" Even the 
1'osemite bears get 
the eilinbinfr habit. 



here, or over 
towering its 
deeper recess- 
es there, tell unmistakably of the glacier's work as 
a giant sapper and miner. But that work must not 
be credited to the ice-stream alone. It was made 
possible by the extreme mingling of zones of jointed 
and unjointed granites. The sculpturing of these 
walls was carried on first by the ice, and later by 
all the agencies of weathering, — water, frost and 
snow. Where the valley contracts, we find unfis- 
sured masses that resisted the stresses of the cool- 
ing earth, and in the glacial age were able equally 
to withstand the action of ice. Here El Capitan 
and Cathedral Rocks, rising opposite each other at 
the Valley's narrowest part, were undivided blocks 
too vast for the glacier to remove. So Yosemite 
Point confronts Union Point, and the splendid prow 
of Glacier Point the projecting pedestal of the Half 



94 



VOSKMUI, AXn IIS IIICII SIIKKA 



Dome. In the areas ot abundantly tissureil rock separating each of these 
pairs of opposing cliffs from the next, the glacier took advantage of the 
vertical and horizontal jointing to undermine and cut back the Valley walls. 
Their varying cleavage planes, with the occurrence of smaller unjointed 
masses, were set out in an infinite variety of gables, pinnacles and spires. 

Where the jointing was 
P^S^^SH vertical, the ice left the 
sheer faces of Glacier and 
\ osemite Points and the 
Sentinel. Where it in- 
clined, the Three Broth- 
ers, with their sloping 
steps, resulted. Alterna- 
tion of fissured and mass- 
i\e granites gave us the 
deeply trenched Cathedral 
Rocks. Purely local solid- 
ity surrounded by a fissile 
structure is represented in 
Cathedral Spires and the 




— l^\o lM*:ililiflilly >vo<hU'iI 
isl«-fN al (he ii|>|>t*r flid of 
the Vallt'y. ^vhere the 
river riishe** 4nit 4tf its 
namt^v ennoii hel<»«' lllii- 
ouette :iii<l \'eriial 




Lost Arrow, as well as 
in such clefts as the 
Fissures and the gap 
separating Washing- 
ton Ccdumn from the Royal Arches. Much of this detailed sculpture, of 
course, has been the result of weathering since the retreat of the glacier. 
To that agency must also be ascribed the splitting off of flat plates from 
the front of Half Dome, as well as the exfoliation of concentric layers 
from the top of that and other domes. This, more than the glacial grind- 
ing, is responsible for their rounded form. 



THE CANON OF YOSEMITE 



95 



Any Yoseniite visitor 
who would know the causes 
of this great Valley will get 
both instruction and enjoy- 
ment by following the Mer- 
ced River back to, or at 
least towards, its fountains 
in the wide amphitheater 
enclosed between the main 
range of Sierran peaks and 
its outlier, the Mt. Clark or 
Merced chain. Stretching 
from Lyell and Florence on 
the north clear around to 
Red Peak and Triple Di- 
vide Peak on the south, 
every creek may be traced 
up to a head-basin which an 
ancient glacier dug far back 
into the mountain mass. 
When this sapping and mi- 
ning went on long enough 
to encounter a glacier simi- 
larly at work on the other 
side of the ridge, a pass 
resulted; and over these 
mountain passes one may 
cross to-day, at elevations of nine or ten thousand feet, and drop down 
into the watershed of the San Joaquin or the South Merced, and find there 
the same types of alpine scenery, sculptured by the same irresistible if slow- 
moving tools. But where the exca\'ation was not carried through the sum- 
mit walls, we find merely the huge cirques, driven well into the sides of the 




"I'atarnot of niaiiKiiifls/' lii't«*'eu ^"ernal and 
\evada Falls. 




kittle Vo.seiiiite, n-ith its bare ;:;riinite sliipps, seen from summit of Liberty Cui», ^vilh Half 
Dome on the left. Here, too. a JelVrey I'ine, more symnietrieal than that on Sentinel 
Dome, has e.stablished itself. Mt. t'lark is in distance (left K 




>eva«ln l'':ill (.'»!! I ft.i. nccii from the /.i^/.a;^ 'I'rnil :il ils Nidi*. Sfranut' anil faN«>iiiatinp: ^vnlcr 
forms art' often as^niiM'tl liy this \%ilil tlooil. and when tlie riter is at its lici^;lit in enrly 
sunimt>r ii ivo man's fa<'i* uiid liKiir** are plainly seen, — a * eritahle "I.ady of the Sno«H.** 




Nevada Fall, seen from the north «all of the enuon helow. In ilisplay of power, as the swift 
Mereed River shoots out far from its ledee, this (sreat fall ranks first anion;; the Yoseniite 
eataraets, and many visitors deem it the most beautiful. 



98 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 




l.ittU- \ osfiiillf, with C'loiifiN Rest in the db«tanee, 

peaks. Out from each of these horseshoe-shaped basins poured, during 
the glacial epochs, a tributary to the Merced Glacier. To-day almost 

every cirque holds a tiny 
lake, from which flows a 
modest stream, the begin- 
ning of one of the "forks" 
of Merced Ri\er. The 
whole of the \ast amphithe- 
atci- is thus seen to be close- 
ly dissected, by the plowing 
of these glaciers, and the 
erosion of these streams, in- 
to an area of deep canons 
and narrow, thickly-set 
ridges, all converging to- 
wards the rock-walled lakes, 
Washburn and Merced, and 
sending on their supplies 
to the profound Yosemite 
gorge. Down in those caii- 
ons, when we explore them, 
are discovered sunny alpine 
lakes and scores of loud- 
spoken cataracts. Some- 
times the lakes have filled, 
'hlo^rMiltvo^mu::" " '■ "' ""■ and become shining alpine 




Iluiinell l*4»iiii 



100 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 




Sunset over B^venlns: Clouds in Voseniite, seen from I'nion l*olnt, ivitli Sentinel Itoek on 

the left and I'.! Cnpitjin on rif£ht. 

meadows. Sometimes the straight cataracts ha\'e aged into broicen cas- 
cades, and their thunders softened to the gentler songs of gliding, dashing 

waters. But everywhere, in pol- 
ished granite walls and floors as in 
waterfalls, lakes and lake \alleys 
upon the caiion steps, is the easily 
read report of a colossal ice-stream. 
As Merced Canon forms the 
southeast branch of Yosemite Val- 
ley, so the still deeper caiion of 
Tenaya Creek is its northeastern 
arm. Here the glacial story is less 
plain, and on first sight, from the 
heights on either side, it might be 
overlooked. For above the cafi- 
on's lower two miles, — that is, be- 
yond the foot of Mt. Watkins, — it 
crowds to a narrow box-caiion be- 
tween that great cliff and the 
steep incline of Clouds Rest. This 
I .* might seem to be a sharp V-shaped, 
\' stream-cut gorge, rather than to 
On the "Short Tr.-iii" I., liiaeier foint. This havc the broadcr U-shapcd trough 

tr:iil eoinninnilN s|ilenitid ^ ie«s of Sentinel , , ,1 \^Ci. I, , ., ,1 , ,'.^„ IJ «. 

Hoek. YoKeniite Kails and .he Valley lloor. COHimonly Ictt by a glaClCr. liut 




102 



VOSEMITE AND ITS lIKill Sll.KKA 




ll;ilf l><iiiie lit >iiiiriN(', Ket'ii frtiiii (iliit'it'r I*<»jii1. 



a little exploration discovers glacial tootprints in tiic terminal moraines and 
the lakes and filled lake-beds, with tine connecting waterfalls, that mark a 
glacier's descent from the Cathedral Peak Range, south of the I uolumne. 

We have hardh' entered the 
canon, indeed, before we are 
reminded of El Capitan mo- 
raine and the enclosed Yosem- 
ite Lake. A similar boulder 
ridge, thrown across the caiion 
here, is traversed by the road 
as it carries visitors on their 
early morning trips to see the 
sunrise reflections in "Mirror 
Lake." This lakelet esidently 
occupies the lowermost of the 
glacial steps. It is a mere re- 
minder of its former si/e, the 
delta of Tenaya Creek ha\ing 
stolen a mile from its upper 
end. I'arther up the caiion, 
below and above Mt. Wat- 
kins, stream sediment has al- 
ready turned other lakelets in- 
to meadows. But eight miles 
east of Yosemite, at the head 
of the caiion, Tenava Lake 
"Short ■vr-.uv i..r,..„- ,;,„,i,r ,..,i,.,. not onU' prcscnts one of the 





Teiia>:i < afioii hihI tlir H:ilf Dome, sei'ii from i. 
Half Donif l»> iveatheriiip; is well Kliown. 

kiiiN. left. Cloiids Rest, ri^lit. nnil Teiinyn Peak, eiKlit niiles anay at 
Tlie Inte tJnleii Tlurk, npe U4, seated on "Pliof onraiiliers" Hoek." 



aeier I'oiiit. The perpend ten I jir elea^ ape of the 
Mirror I.nke Ilex belo«", and liejond ri«e Mt, A\'at- 

lie liend (»f the eanoii. 



104 



VOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 



most lascinating 
views in the whole 
Farli, but also re- 
calls, in its polished 
frranite walls and 
liomes and pave- 
ments a very differ- 
ent scene, — a picture 
of the old Tuolumne 
(jlacicr, split against 
the east front of 
Mt. Hoffman, and 
sending part of its 
immense ice-flood 
d o \\- n T u o 1 u m n e 
Canon, to quarry 
Hetch Hetchy, and 
the rest over the low 
divide into the Ten- 
aya basin, to form 
the main ice supply 
of Tenaya Glacier 
and help excavate 
Yosemite Valley. 
The deeply plowed 
track and surprising 
work of this glacier 
are well shown in the illustrations given on pp. 16, 27, and 49. 

Thus Tenaya Canon forms no exception. Its narrowness between 
Clouds Rest and Mt. Watkins, seen in Prof. Le Conte's pictures on page 
46, is plainly due to the solidity of the huge inclined strata of the former, 
and the fact that 
the latter is a single 
block of massive 
granite, rising as 
high, as sheer and as 
unbroken as El Cap- 
itan, which it greatly 
resembles. The stri- 
king contrast Ten- 
aya Caiion thus pre- 
sents to Yosemite 
Valley is lucidly set 

forth by Dr. Fran- SentinrI Domr, on the Platrnu above VoNeniite Valley, xonth of 
T,' 1* * 4.#.L , Sentinel Roek. On the Niiiiiinlt l.s seen the lone .lelTrey I'ine 

^OlS -Li. iViattneS, VThleli is shown at Inri^e on the opposite paee. 




A Charaof eristic l>onie I.aiiiiscaiK'; \ iew north from <ilaeier 
I'oint, looliinft' :i«Tos.s \oseniite X'alley lo Ni»rlh l)onlt^ ILisket 
Doiiie, ami >It. lloiVnian. In the foreKroiiiiil. ii(»te tiie ileep fis- 
sure separating: ^^'asllinK'ton' t'oluinn from the lt«i^al Arehes. 




106 



VOSliMlTi: AM) ITS IlKJll SIKKKA 




'^M^^ 






'iiics, (lit' preiloiiiinniit 
ill ^oMfiiiUe \ alley 



the noted expert of the United States Geo- 
logical Sur\e\% who has for some years been 
in charge of the Sur\ev"s thorough in\esti- 
gation into the geological history of the Vo- 
semite region : 

The Vosemite Valley evidently was carved from 
prevailingly Hssured materials in which the ice was 
able to (juarry to great depth and width. Tenaya Cation, 
on the other hand, was laid along a rather narrow zone 
of fissuring, flanked by close-set, solid masses; and the 
glacier that flowed through it. while permitted to carve 
deeply — more deeply even than the mightier Yosemite 
Glacier, — was impeded in its lateral excavating, and has 
been able to produce only a narrow, gorge-like trough. — 
Sketi/i of Yosemite Nniionnl P/irk. 

The full report of Mr. Matthes' Yo- 
semite studies, which the Geological Survey 
expects to publish before the close of the 
present year, has long been looked forward 
to. Pending its preparation, he has from 
time to time made public, in the Sierra Club 
Biillfli)! and elsewhere, preliminarv obser- 
\ations of great value. In one such pass- 
age, he cites the progress of geological study 
in the Yosemite Sierra since the davs of such 
pioneer glacierologists as Clarence King and 
John Muir. 1 take pleasure in quoting this 
aLithoritati\e statement, as it clearly sum- 
marizes its author's deductions regarding 
matters formerly in dispute: 

In Muir's day glacial science was in its infancy, 
and no man had as yet that perspective of the succession 
of ice-ages and intervening epochs of milder climate 
which the worlil-wide research of the last two decades 
has made known to us. To Muir and his contempo- 
raries the Glacial Epoch still seemed a single, uninter- 
rupted cycle of glacial conditions that slowly reached a 
climax, like an oncoming tide, and then slowly waned, 
the glaciers making many repeated but progressively 
feebler re-advances, like the waves of an outgoing tide. 
To-day we know that the Glacial Epoch, so called, really 
consisted of several prolonged ice-tides separated by 
ei|ually prolonged intervals, during each of which the 
ronlinental ice-sheet and the lesser ice-bodies on our 
Western mountain ranges shrank back to their sources 
and perhaps vanished altogether. 

In the Sierra Nevada indications of at least two 
uieat ice-floods have been clearly recognized by several 
iliservers, — two ice-floods that occurred manifestly at 
widely difl^erent times, the later culminating probably 
oidy twenty thousand years ago, the earlier, perhaps as 



THE CANON OF YOSEMITE 



107 



much as several humlrcd thousand 
years ago. The evidence is the 
more readily established as the later 
ice-flood was the smaller and less 
extensive of the two and left undis- 
turbed the moraines — that is, the 
ridges of ice-carried rock debris — 
that mark the limits of the earlier 
ice-flood. In no part of the Sierra 
Nevada have these facts been ascer- 
tained with more precision than in 
the Yosemite region and the High 
Sierra immediately above it. T'hus 
it is now definitely known that the 
later ice-flood invaded the Yosemite 
Valley only as far as the Bridal 
Veil Meadows, whereas the earlier 
ice-flood advanced eleven miles 
farther down the Merced Caiion, 
coming to a halt a short distance 
beyond El Portal. — Sierra Club Bul- 
letin, Vol. xi., pp. 21, 22. 

Many who come to Yo- 
semite late in the season are 
disappointed when they dis- 
cover that the long summer 
of the High Sierra has de- 
pleted the famous Merced 
cataracts, Vernal and Ne- 
vada, and perhaps quite 
dried up Yosemite, Illilou- 
ette and Bridal Veil Falls. 
Hence too much emphasis 
can not be laid on the fact 
that the sight and music of ^ ^ 
these waterfalls, phenom- 
enal as we must regard 
them, are not the only or 
the best pleasure which Yo- 
semite has to offer the intel- 
ligent visitor. Even though 
he may not class himself 
with the "nature-lovers," 
one must be strangely in- 
sensible to the wonder- 
worI<ings of nature if he fail 
to see that the Yosemite picture is of far wider scope and mystery, and 
of far greater importance and charm, than is voiced even by its falling 
waters. As often as I have visited the Valley, the marvel of its colossal 
framing still seems the greater with each return. How such mass and 




<'liiiil>in;;' the Half l>(»iiie. This feat, lon^ deemed iiii- 
|i<>.s.sihle, «ns first achieved in l-ST.' I>y George C 
.\ii4iers(»ii, >vli4», witli ealile and eye-l»<ilt.s. Iiiiilt a 
trail to tlie top. Hut avalanohe.s s^vept tliis atvay. 
In 1!H{^ under the auspices of the Sierra C'liih and 
witli funds Biven hy a nieniber, tlie ne«- trail shtMvn 
here ^vas 4>(»n.strueted with iron po.st.s. steel e:il>le.s, 
footholds. ;ind. at the steepest point, a riO-fot»t lad- 
der. 'I'lle tilial :iseent. XttO ft., over an incline some- 
times excceilin;;- AT* dejsrees, is thus made safe and 
comparatively easy. The summit. 4,!»70 ft. above 
the \'alley floor. <»fVers a memorahle vie«- of V4»- 
seniite, l.iltic ^ *>seiiiite, and most of the llerced- 
lllilitiictte watershed. 



108 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 



height were shaped 
to perfect propor- 
tion and beauty, in- 
stead of mere wild 
bulk, and how the 
whole view, seen 
from almost any 
point in the Valley, 
was softened to a 
landscape blending 
sylvan grace with 
tremendous power, 
must always be a 
study of surprise, 
interest and value. 
And so I repeat that 
the greatest and fin- 
est thing to be seen 
in Yosemite is the 
record of its making, written upon its sculptured walls, accented by its 
highest summits, and gently told again in the sunny forests and flowery 
meads of its floor. What a debt to the cold snows of the Sierra, and to 
the slow, savage ice-streams which they fed! And what forces of prime- 
val world-making molded El Capitan, Half Dome and the Sentinel to 
survive the glacier's mightiest thrusts! These superb cliffs, perhaps the 
noblest rocks in the world, withstood the ice as they now endure the storms. 
Serene and distinguished, they dominate the great Valley, expressing Yo- 
semite's majesty. "The Colorado Grand Caiion," wrote John Burroughs, 
"is more unearthly, apocryphal; but one could li\'e with Yosemite." 




The KiNNiircs, a deep f::a-sh in the south \v:ill of the \'nlley, near 
Tnft l*olnt. 'I'hi.s was made hy the er<»sion of a .small seetion 
of highly fissile roel& amidst an area of solider j^ranite. 




ICanKers* t'luii-llouse in loseiiiile \ alley, a uift from Stephen 
'I', ^latlier. IJireetor of the >ational Park Ser\iee. !*» the men 
^vli(» are developing and KuardiiiK the i'ark. 




KveninK PriinroseN and the Half Dome. These beautiful hiininoUN yelloiv tl4»>vers are a faiiiilar 
decoration of Yoseinlte, Hetohy Hetehy and o her valleys in the Park durin;; July, ^vhen their 
bud.s **poi>" open noiNily at .sunset for a sing;!,' ni^ht of fr»K'rant revelry. 




I 




\t the Koot of PtTtiniKlcx I*:i.sk in Koltrtinry. Tnkon «>n the e.vtreiii4' 
Kouthenstcrn border of the I'urk. ^vith t^ale l*eiik 4lO.!NE<) ft.» t^vo 
iiiileN ii^vny. This nnd other nii4»«v Neeiies shoivii in these pn^es vividly 
illiistrnte llie o|i|>i»rMi nit ies for ^vinter iiioiin tii iiieeriim- in the Niinny 
\ oNenilte iipianils. 




erster Peak. S« culleil 



'I'riple Divide l*eak (ll,Gli{ tt.i, seen fritiii iiieadow.s al the foot c»f l'^t>er.. — . „ 

because its permanent nno^v-fields feed the San Joaiiiiin Ki^ er and t^vo forks of the 
Meroed. 



III. 
Ox\ THE CALIFORNIA SKY-LINE 



The silence that is in the starry sky. 
The sleep that is among the lonely hills. 
— William H'ordsiL'orlh. 

I ramble to the summit of Mt. Hoffman, eleven thousand feet high, the 
highest point in life's journey my feet have yet touched. And what 
glorious landscapes are about me, new plants, new animals, new crystals, 
and multitudes of new mountains, far higher than Hoffman, towering 
in glorious array along the axis of the range, serene, majestic, snow- 
laden, sun-drenched, vast domes and ridges shining below them, forests, 
lakes, and meadows in the hollows, the pure blue bell-flower sky brooding 
them all, — a glory day of admission into a new realm of wonders as if 
Nature had wooingly whispered, "Come higher." 

— John Miiir: "My First Summer in the Sierra." 

^^[HE best way to see Yosemite is from the heights. The wonder 
and pleasure of this experience draws thousands of visitors each 
summer to Yosemite Point, overIooi<ing Yosemite Palls, and 
thence to the still higher north-side ele\ations of El Capitan, 
Three Brothers (Eagle Peak) and the North Dome; or, on the south, to 
Glacier Point, Sentinel Dome and the great outlooks offered by the Long 
Trail and Pohono Trail. To these comparatively easy ascents from the 
Valley may now be added the Half Dome, attainable by the new trail at 
the cost of a little more effort, but not called real mountain-climbing by 
the real out-door man or woman. All these adjacent elevations can be 
made on foot by everybody who commands good wind and a fair pair of 
legs. Other visitors are ad\ised to take horses. It is not well to under- 




112 YOSEMITE AM) ITS HIGH SIERRA 

Mt. Hoffn ail. Clouds Rest. 



Mt. Clark. 




Wninl and Ne\ndn Falls. 

I'aniirnnia I'rtMii IWiirier Point. lIcKinnitiK witit \tirth Utiiiie mid its nei^^hdors 4»n the 
a jsenii-rircle, t* iiibrnrinf; the deep eafions of Tennjn Creek nnd >Iereed Hiver, tlie great 
) «iNeiiiite Yvithout visitin;? (ilaeier l*oiiit, ivhieh ooniniandN one of the nolileNt and most 

estimate either the labor required or the rewards to be obtained. As one 
rises from the Valley, the view develops unexpected surprises; the oppo- 
site cliffs rise with him; new rock forms are discovered, colossal and unique; 
near-by proportions and distant perspective alike change with increasing 
altitude; until, at last, from the summits he beholds at his feet a vaster and 
more wonderful Yosemite than he has ever dreamed of. Few things are 
better worth while than such a climb. These upland trails are the keys 
that unlock, not only the secrets of Yosemite Valley, with its cliff sculptures, 
waterfalls and glacial story, but also the greater mysteries of the higher 
mountains. No one can ascend the Yosemite heights, under the clear 
Sierran sky, and behold the panorama which they unfold of the far-away 
California sky-line, without hearing the call of those snowy peaks and 
sunny ranges rising in the east. And even if he can not respond in person, 
he will gain from his broader outlook enduring memories of the grandeur 
E "^^^ ■ ' ''"^ peace of the mountains, recollections 

f'^' that 

t 3i . . . have power to m.ike 

I ^''-»„ Our noisy years seem moments in the being 

Of the eternal Silence. 

Splendid views of the High Sierra may 
be had from Glacier Point or North Dome, 
and nearer ones from Clouds Rest, east 
of Half Dome and easily reached by trail 
from Nevada Pall. Clouds Rest is the 
highest point on the rim of the Valley. 
I am sorry for any one who leaves Yo- 
X »_ Semite without at least visiting Glacier 
Climbing Mt. c'larkr Point. Evcn here the panorama inchules 




ON THE CALIFORNIA SKY-LINE 



113 



Mt. Starr King. 




Illilouette Watershed Glacier Point Hotel. 

north «'all of Yo.seiiiite Valley, bnckeil by distant >It. HnfTiuan, the oanieru sweeps throii^'h 
watershed of the Illilouette, anil all the heights, near and far, iVo one should leave 
interesting landscapes in Anieriea. 

not only the whole of Yosemite Valley and the neighboring domes, but 
embraces a score of noteworthy snow-peaks lightly silhouetted against the 
distant blue. 

It is important for the convenience and benefit of all Yosemite visitors 
that Glacier Point be brought by better roads nearer to the floor of the 
Valley. Hence it is to be hoped that when the road across Forsyth Pass 
is constructed, the undertaking will include a branch turning west from the 
top of Nevada Fall, crossing Panorama Point and the hanging valley of 
the Illilouette, climbing Glacier Point to the attractive new hotel there, and 
continuing along the south rim on the route of Pohono Trail, past Sentinel 
Dome and the best viewpoints over Yosemite Valley. Such a road, besides 
being many miles shorter than the present roundabout and uninteresting 
trip via Chinquapin, would quickly become one of the famous scenic high- 
ways of the world. I believe it no less feasible than desirable. As to the 
possibility of obtaining an 
appropriation for this work, 
in addition to the Forsyth 
Pass road, I find the whole 
matter convincingly summed 
up in a letter received from 
the Superintendent of the 
Yosemite Park. Lack of 
funds has long hampered 
Mr. Lewis In his efforts to 
fit the roads of the Park for 
automobile travel, and what 
he says may therefore be 
commended especially to on i.ake washhum at sunset. 




114 



VOSKMITE AND US HIGH SIERRA 



the attention of the CalitOr- 
nia delegation in Congress: 

If the proper enthusiasm is 
placed behind a real road-building 
plan for Yosemite, the question of 
a few hundred thousand dollars, 
one way or the other, is not going 
to prevent it from receiving Con- 
gressional approval. Likewise, un- 
less there is some force brought to 
hear, any scheme is going to be de- 
feated, and we shall continue on 
iiur present course of uncertain an- 
nual appropriations, allowing only 
for the barest needs. 

A disappointing lack of 
understanding recently de- 
feated — for a time, only, I 
hope, — a worthy effort to 
make Glacier Point quickly 
accessible from the Valley 
floor. This was a plan to 
dri\e an inclined tunnel 
from near the site of the 
Sierra Club's Le Conte 
Memorial upwards to near 
the Glacier Point Hotel on 
the rim abo\e. The tram- 
way would be wholly under- 
ground, thus offering tele- 
phone and electric light 
\^ires much-needed protec- 
tion from snow, and carry- 
ing passengers from one 
level to the other in a few 
minutes. On every count, the thing seems both desirable and feasible. 
But it met a storm of protest, largely due to the misrepresentations of a 
certain popular weekly, which employed a well-known California writer, 
who might easily have learned the facts, if he did not know them, to expose 
the project as a scheme to hang a railway on the outside of 1^1 Capitan! 
In time, no doubt, this underground road will splendidly demonstrate its 
value by carrying many thousands of Yosemite visitors to a better acquain- 
tance with the Yosemite upland in summer, and in winter to the best snow 
sports obtainable anywhere in California. 

Views of the High Sierra from the summits overlooking Yosemite 
Valley are a poor substitute for the prime enjoyment of days and nights 
spent among the loftv passes and fascinating alpine meadows nearer the 




On the OverhanKinK Hofk at (ilaripr r^ilit, with eiwht 
teet of sli€»«. (ilarier l*oilit. with its platrail well 
above 7,000 feet, seems destined (o l»ee<Mne liie eliief 
€*enter of winter sports in lh<' Sierra, wlien the eoni- 
l»leted State road to l-:! I'orlal tills the \:illey with 
winter visitors. itiit to make it easily aee«^Nsilile 
in ^vinter. 4>ar]y e<»nstriietioii of the |>r<»|tosed in- 
elineil tunnel from the \ alley is needed. 



116 



VOSEMITK AND ITS HKill SIKRKA 



backbone of the range, with such ascents as may be within one's time and 
inclination. Hence the most important thing about the trails out ot the 
Valley is that they invite one on and on, to the grander Yosemite of the 
far heights. 

Visiting the Yosemite Sierra has till recently meant genuine explora- 
tion, but with the good trails now opened to many parts of the Park, one 
can hardly go anywhere below timber line without finding signboards or 
blazes guiding him to lake or peak or valley. All this is in disregard 
of the professional 
climber's fear that 
his favorite wilds 
will be rushed by 
the "mob." The 
Park Administra- 
tion wisely aims to 
make this great na- 




II o I II III II 4* l*:iss, — ii|>|iiT 
liew loiikitiK .smith; 
louver viftv. north, lit*- 
liiiv IN Neeii a niki^v- 
tivUl on the slopt* of 
MX. Vo^elNaii^'. with 
ailvanre of Sii>rra i'lllh 
liafk-train c-oiiiinu in- 
to \'ietv. Ilf.vonil art* 
HatVerty Crt'fk Canon 
and HatVerty and .lohn- 
son Peaks. 

tional recreation 
ground fully acces- 
sible to the public, as well as to the mountain enthusiast. The "mob," of 
course, will not follow; but mountain parties become larger every year, 
and with the establishment of lodges at Lake Merced, Lake Tenaya, and 
Tuolimine Meadows, the number of such companies taking the long trails 
is likewise multiplying. No season would be long enough to cover all the 
trails, of which the Park has six hundred miles. Hence it is best to under- 
take some definite section, knowing that unforeseen calls are likely to be 
made on one's energy and time. Every section offers enough of interest 
and wonder to make a summer's vacation a round of unforgettable days. 
And if your vacation fall in winter, the Yosemite country will wel- 
come you then quite as whole-heartedly. We have not as yet made winter 
mountaineering the popular sport it deserves to be; but when it becomes 
a popular sport in America, as it long has been in F.urope, then California's 
High Sierra, and notably the Yosemite uplands, with their abundant snow 







ii ; 



■^ ;- 



f.^ 



^-i^ ^ 



m ^ 



u. 



118 



VOSEMITK AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 



and steady weather, invit- 
ing the climber to explore 
the lofty mountains easily 
reached from Yosemite Vil- 
lage, will see the best of it. 
The fascination of such ad- 
ventures is shown in the re- 
markable High Sierra win- 
ter scenes reproduced in the 
following pages by courtesy 
of Miss Elizabeth Keith 
Pond, of Berkeley, and 
her brother, Mr. Charles 
McHenrvPond, well known 



Siiinnier Siii»\^- 
ti <■ I (1 s In t h <- 
Sierra, Ippcr 
picture sho\^ s 
linrty enteriii;; 
Park via l>un- 
ohue PusM and 
eaNt shf»iilfler 
of >lount I. yell. 
Middle, n vie^i 
south, near 





jf^i^^^>^ 






fin 



^(►erster Pons, 
noroKN frozen 
Kake llnrriet. 
I.<»\ver, coiiNt- 
iiif; on Niiow 
s I (» p e near 
I-'oerstor I'nss. 
ivit h M ereed 
Cnfion nnd Mt. 
<'lark In dis- 
(nnee beyontl. 





f»t-^ 



1^ 




both as a mountaineer and 
an a\iator. These daring 
climbers, one February 
se\eral years ago, made an 
expedition across the Illil- 
ouette basin and over \Ier- 
ced Pass, thence to the top 
of Fernandez Pass and of 
Triple Divide Peak, on 
the southeastern border of 
the Park. It was an experi- 
ence few have yet enjoyed, 
but the story told by these 
pictures and in Miss Pond's 




UY«riiS?Kfr>-'-.«3; 




120 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 




l.onkiii;^- lip I, yell Fork of the Tiioliiiiiiie, with Kunu <^'reNt on the exti-eiiie left, INitler 
I'oiiit in the center, and ParNoiiN Peak at the eiiil of the riil;::e heyond. 

charming plea for mid-winter climbing should inspire many to repeat it. 
"I am delighted," Miss Pond writes, "that you will call attention to 
the opportunities in and around Yosemite for winter mountaineering. 
There is nothing else like it, — such a \ast chain of accessible mountains, 
with their great rivers, forests and meadows under the deepest of winter 
snows, yet bathed by the warmest of winter suns. For those who love 

the winter camp in the open, and joys of 
snowshoes and skii, such a country is ideal. 
"Take your snowshoes down from the 
\,all, build a sled on skii, and climb to the 
lim of Yosemite Valley when the snow lies 
tieep over boulders, brush and ice-bridged 
streams; then away through meadow, for- 
est, and over the pass. Artist, camera and 
pen cannot present the full beautv of these 
\ ast snow-clad mountains imder sun, moon 
or lowering storm; but mental pictures live 
forever in the memories of those who ha\e 
camped among them. 

"With shoepacks, strong snowshoes, 
and ilurable sled well laden with blankets 
ami bacon, come with us up the \\'awona 
R(Kul in IcbiHiarw ^ ou need muscle for 
the hills, biit the sled will glide like a boat 
<in the le\el, and has the wings of a bird 
on the down slopes. Take a few days 

l*ai'k 'l>:iin at \ «»u*t'Isaii;i Pass. lit. . . . . . _ ,. . ■ 

(lark is seen in llie distanee. tO CXplorC ttlC mil Of tllC \ alleV, MonO 




122 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HI(;il SIERRA 




Rodgers, Klet'trii nnd DnviN I't^aks. Mecn from near iMlaiifl l*asN. 



Meadow, and Glacier Point; and while we stand on the summit of Sentinel 
Dome, we shall choose our route along the slopes of Mt. Starr King, and 
up the wide, open spaces of the Illilouette, to the southern heights of the 
Mt. Clark Range. If we are snowed in for a few days, here or there, let 

us build a lean-to. When the storm 
blows over, wind and sun form a 
new crust, and the going is better 
than ever. 
I *^'"^"^^W "The glorious winter days in 

the High Sierra can not be sur- 
passed. Clouds and snow-showers 
bring added beauty of color; sun- 
rise and sunset transfigure the land- 
scape with indescribable splendor. 
Time speeds by. We cross Mer- 
ced Pass, camp a while in the snow 
at Moraine Meadows, at the head 
of South Fork of the Merced, and 
a few days later stand on Fernan- 
dez Pass, more than 10,000 feet 
> ,1 -. x^^HS^^SK^^BQRm above sea-level. It has been a stifF 

climb in the snow, but worth all the 
effort, for we seem on the very top 
of the world, looking over a sea of 
mighty mountains. Down again we 

A Convrnlent «raok. Sii.-h <-haii<-e fiNsures mUSt gO, intO thc UppCr VallcyS of 
frenucntly tiffer the only iiossihlc trnlls i C T ' ] ^L 1 „ 

aoro«H the Binoier-.H.iishe.i Brani..- slopes, thc San Joaquin; and another long 





\s^m^^f9ms^^ ti,. 



% 



..« 




.;^ 



'4 



E 
e 
k. 

b 

e 





^K 



^^^ 









a 
& 

si 

C X 

s „ 



.it 

" i6 



E«. 



- s 



M g 






124 



YOSEMIl 1-: AND US IlKJI! SII-.RRA 




Kiiii:i (rest, seen from iticndows iiciir >Ioii«» I*:in.s. 



climb brings us Lip Triple Di\"ide Peak. Here let us camp for several 
days, to enjoy the most wonderful view of all. The wind may blow, and 
the snow fall; but there is a rock for shelter, and the brush will burn! 
Night will be as brilliant as day, for the moon is full, and the stars seem 
within arms' reach. We lie snug and warm in our blankets on the snow, — 
No boughs here for beds ! — and gaze out over three great mountain ranges. 
A snow cornice overhangs, so we make a careful descent by cutting steps 
in the ice, lowering the sled and shoes, and sending the rolls of blankets 
over the brink. Away they go, out of sight; but we shall find them some- 
where in the e\"ening. 

"We are now on the homeward stretch, 
down the headwaters of the Merced, skimming 
Lake Washburn on the ice. Another day's 
climb, up I'.cho Creek and down the Sunrise 
Trail, \\ill bring us back to the Valley." 

Except for the old Tioga Road, as I have 
shown, all highways entering the Yosemite Park 
lead to Yosemite \'illage, and now, I am sorry 
to add, end there; tra\el to the uplands south 
and east of the Valley, or north of the Tuol- 
umne Ri\er, sa\-e for the hardy mountaineers 
who can carry their own blanket-rolls and knap- 
sacks, must he by the horse-trails. Of these 
there are already 615 miles, with a large ex- 
tension of the system planned for that da\' — 
May it be near at hand! — when Congress shall 



■^- 



H 



>}>^ 



/ 






t 



i 



-«. 



( 'llllillU Sl*'|ts II |l tlU' S|M»M - 

l'inK:«-r on >I < . I.>t'll. — thv 

4*liiii:ix of ii loii;^ anil iiit<*r- 
«>>itliiu :is<>4'ii t. 



ON THE CALIFORNIA SKV-LINE 



125 



awake to the desirability of dealing justly by this great Park. Meanwhile, 
several important trails have recently been built. The most interesting 
of these are the Forsyth Pass Trail, leading across the 9,000-foot gap 
just east of Clouds 
Rest, and the much- 
needed beginning 
of a trail down the 
north bank of the 
Tuolumne to the 
celebrated but al- 
most inaccessible 
Waterwheel Falls. 





AboAC, >U. Dana I i::,ll.'>0 
ft.l. Keen from (■il»bK. Ile- 
lon-. Gibhs 3Iountain 412,- 
700 ft.), from the Dan:i- 
<>ililis .saddle. 

The Forsyth Pass 
route, soon, let us 
hope, to be used by the 
new automobile road, 
offers a capital day's 
journey, horseback or 
afoot, via the great falls of the Merced, and the lower end of Little Yo- 
semite, to Tenaya Lake. En route, the wayfarer may enjoy one of the 
finest of the great tamarack pine forests that cover many of the Park's 
highlands, and study glacier history written plain at the top of Forsyth 
Pass. Here glacial scorings, and thickly strewn boulders that were plucked 
from uplifted sea-beaches back on the crest of the range and freighted 
hither to diversify this granite land- 
scape, tell of former glacier levels, and 
remind us of the tremendous depth 
and mass of the ice-streams that were 
pushed down from Tenaya Lake and 
the Cathedral Peak plateau on the 
north and from all the Merced sources 
on the south. It is one of the sunniest 
and best-paying trail trips near the Val- 
ley, especially if, at the top of the pass, 
one turns off for the short ascent of an- 

„^l ^ *.U -. J J-* 1. ^ 4.1 '^ r *'Aiir«»ii" :inil (ilarial Tarn ,,r l.akelet. on 

Other thousand feet to the summit of tL Merced at head ..f I.Utle Yo»emite. 




126 



YOSEMMK ANO ITS UK, II Sll.KKA 



Clouds Rest, ami the broad panorama of snow-peaks which it unfolds. 
The trail down the Tuolumne Canon leads as yet only to the upper 
fall, but it commands a fair view of the whole series, and makes every one 
who travels down from Conness Creek and Glen Aulin rejoice that Super- 
intendent Lewis finds himself able now to extend it to the main falls and 
on to Return Creek Canon. Every mile of the way tells wonderful stories 
of the work of ice and stream in digging this colossal trench. We shall 
see much of it, and of the Waterwheels, in the next chapter. Another 

much-needed trail ex- 
tension is the promised 
completion of Harden 
Lake I rail down the 
huge south wall of 
Tuolumne Caiion and 
across the river to Pate 
' ^^W^^ ^ ^M^^^iaHS Valley. This trail, when 

opened, will furnish one 
of the most remarkable 



III \l|iiiif Ciiliforiilii. \l>ove. 
>lt. I>una (iljK'ier, Neon fniiii 
the Muniiiiit. nlth euiiiera 
pointing shnrply diiwnward 
to the iiiiiriiineN nnil Nnotv- 
fiivered iee ensi'mles. lie- 
low, an aretie pool, not at 
the North I'ole, hilt In lllooily 
t 'niinn. 






. It i, .^■■':t' 




\ 



d 



scenic trips in the Yosem- 
ite or any other National 
Park. Both these im- 
provements, Mr. Lewis writes, will be made during the summer of 1921. 
The next step in trail development on the Tuolumne will be a trail from 
Return Creek Canon, over the ridge above Muir Gorge (see p. 39), to 
Pate Valley. 

Outing parties visiting the High Sierra may now leave Yosemite Vil- 
lage, where camp equipment and supplies, horses and guides are to be 
had, by one of several trails. The most popular are, first, those by Nevada 
Fall, Little Yosemite and Lakes Merced and Washburn in the Merced 
Canon, continung thence up to the headwater peaks, or diverging to the 
Illilouette basin or across one of the north-side passes to the Cathedral 
Peak uplands; second, the trails from Glacier Point south to the lakes north 
of Wawona, or east to the upper Illilouette country and the heights of the 
Merced Range; and, third, the Snow Creek and Yosemite Falls Trails to 
the Tioga Road, and thereby to Lake Tenaya and Tuolumne Meadows. 



128 



YOSEMITE AND IIS HIGH SIERRA 



The Merced route, besides 
attractive branch trails to 
Clouds Rest, Mt. Clark, and 
their great outlooks, connects 
with other well-blazed trails 
crossing the Merced-Tuolumne 
divide via Sunrise Mountain or 
Tuolumne Pass; and also offers 
access to the entire upper water- 
shed of the Merced. In this 
basin, the Merced's branches 
flow down from cirques and 
'^.. snowfields which form a great 
i'! horseshoe stretching from the 
'■ Merced Range and Triple Di- 
vide Peak, on the south, along 
the crest of the Sierra to the 
Cathedral Peak Range. Its 
principal peaks, reaching eleva- 
tions of twelve anci thirteen 
thousand feet, are Long, Foers- 
ter, Electra, Rodgers. Lyell, 
McClure, Florence, Parsons 
and Vogelsang, — a splendid 
line of snow-fountains, encir- 
cling a \"ast amphitheater laced 
with canons and ridges, and ev- 
erywhere decorated with great 
riioraines left by the old Merced 
Cilacier. In this wild region, 
Mr. Muir counted sixty-seven 
glacier lakes, not to mention 
scores of others in the Illilou- 
ette basin, and a multitude more 
on the south side of the Park, 
in the watershed of the Merced's South Fork. 

This whole section is a favorite haunt of sportsmen, since its lakes and 
streams are abundantly stocked with trout, — as, indeed, are the waters of 
the entire Park. Many thousands of young trout have been successfully 
planted in nearly every stream and larger lake, up to nine or ten thousand 
feet. As the region offers some of the toughest mountaineering, so no- 
where in America is there better fishing. 

Down in Yosemite Valley, the Merced shelters many an educated 
trout that exhibits only indifference to the lures of the fly-book. But back 
in the streams ami lakes of the higher altitudes, as well as in the less fished 




I'oi'ksi'oiiili 4'r4*.s(, iiMi.st t'iirit»ii.s mill .strikiiiK **f 
lllllliy iiiniinrlcd iii(»lintllili iims.se.s fl(»t(iiiK (h*^ 
Hlpiiu' plateau east of Cathedral Peak. The 
KpireN er€»«-|iin(:: this crest and its neiffhikor.s, 
1 nleorn. Keho, Coluiiibia and the Cathedral it- 
self 4 see |>. 27). testify that they missed the 
iee-plane, anil thus sliotv the highest reaeli of 
the K'reat 'l'iii»liiiiine tilaeier. 



ON THE CALIFORNIA SKY-LINE 



129 




'I'lie "iter^Mi'tirunil** uf Lyell Glacier. Thi.s German word < **iii4>uiitain rift**» is apiilied tn 
the great crevasse stretching across the head of every active glacier at the point where 
its motion begins, and the ice-stream pulls away from the summit snowtield. To the 
weathering of the slope exposed in such crevasses, through daily tha^ving anil freez- 
ing in summer, is chiefly due the head-wall cutting that digs the **circiue" or glacial 
heafl-liasin far back into the heart of the mountain, and opens passes through the range. 
This is now recognized as the prime factor in the sculpturing of high mountain dis- 
tricts. The upper rim of a bergschrunil often overhangs, as here, in a "snow-cornice." 

waters of Hetch Hetchy, during July and August, even a novice may fill 
his creel with glittering beauties. The native Rainbow trout {Salnto 
irideus) is widespread in the Sierra. The Eastern Brook trout (Salvelintis 
fnnt'tnal'ts) , introduced here from the hatchery near Wawona, has multi- 
plied extensively on the 
upper Merced, especially \ 
in Merced and Washburn 
Lalces, and also in the Tu- 
olumne basin. A few Tahoe 
trout (Saiiiio wxkiss hcn- 
shazvi) are also to be taken 
in the Merced, and an oc- 
casional Loch Levin, or 
hybrids of it with native 
species, rewards the angler. 
On the other hand, the 

„,^.i,^/»,.<^..11,, U..:ii:.,„4. „„ i '''"^ I plands in July. View of Kcho Peak from I'nieorn 
wonderfully brilliant and peak, with Mt. Honman in the distance. 




130 



YOSEMITK AND ITS lll(;il SIKKRA 



gamy (iolden trout ot high altitudes in the Mt. Whitney region is not fouiul 
here. It is to be caught only in the lakes and streams ot the southern 
Sierra, notably in the Cottonwootl Lakes, where it is known scientitically 
as Salmo agtia-bonita, and in N'olcanic Creek, Salmo roosi-vclli. 

I'Or those who mix 
mountain climbing with 
their fishing, or vice 
versa, the snow-peaks 
that sentinel the Mer- 
ced amphitheater offer 
fascinating ascents; and 
the climber is rewardeil 
with far-reaching views, 
both of that watershed 
and of the upper San ^^ 





SiiiiiiHil of <'4»iiiiesM >loiinfiiln 
(12, .'.'I! ft. I. 'I'hf I'liir Mliiinn 
bfliiiv is the I<>|| i>f a -J.dOO- 
fintt >T:tll, part iif thf rial «»f 
:iii ;in4*ient ;£tii(*i:ll <'ir(|iif. 



Joaquin. But the best 
mountain climbing in the 
Park is doubtless to be had 
from Tuolumne Meadows 
as a base. The way thither 
from the upper Merced, 
by either pass, is a day's 
easy march across high 
country of broad, snowy cols and sunny, wind-swept plateaus, dotted with 
peaks of curious glacial architecture and shining granite bosses, all bur- 
nished by the recent ice. It is country of immense interest, because it is 
astonishingly new, — so new, indeed, that the rapid disintegration common 
to altitudes of nine and ten thousand feet under daily interchange of sun 
and frost has not yet tarnished the landscape. Glacier-polished slopes and 
benches are common enough on the uplands adjacent to ^ osemite and 



132 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 




Hetch Hetchy. Here, on the edge 
of the snowfields, they are every- 
where; but thousands, perhaps 
hundreds of thousands, of years 
younger. How hard it is to take 
Nature's word for it, that this hind 
of sunshine and gentlest mountain 
airs, with joyous flowers in every 
hollow that holds a spoonful of 
soil, was yesterday a sea of sullen 
ice ! 

Yosemite visitors who have the 
time will find a trip to Soda Springs 
from the Merced, across one of the 
high passes, as fine an experience as 
.^^ VH the Park can give. But the Tuol- 

t^ I Mfl^rifT'* ^ umne maybe reached more directly 

V\f^ ^ '''■""^ ^^^ Valley, either by the Yo- 

' Semite Point trail or by the Snow- 

Creek trail out of Tenaya Carion. 
Each of these trails soon brings one 
to the Tioga Road, which he fol- 
lows to Tenaya Lake, and thence 
northward past Mt. Hoffman and Fairview Dome. This is the region 
traversed by the south branch of the Tuolumne glacier, on its way to 
Tenaya Canon and Yosemite. The cleanness of the country is amazing, 
and we realize how the mighty ice-stream stripped the whole region bare 
of its overlying sedimentary rock, and left only the hardest granites 
(See pp. 29, 49). 

The trails radiating from Tuolumne Meadows bring a score of im- 




Keturnin^ from Asfent of llaiint'r l*4':ik. 




The C'rnterN of >loii(i loiiiilj. 'I'his iiiiitiiit* \oli-aiii(' riiiiKt*. wliii-h lies in llir ileNert of 
Eastern ('allf(»rnia, liehi^T ^lon<» PasM. rises ^..^lOO feet alM>\4' the near-hy >l€»iio Lake. 
The picture in a «"inter vle«' from l*iimlee A'alley. 



ON THE CALIFORNIA SKY-LINE 



133 



portant peaks, with their glaciers and snowfields, within easy reach of the 
climber. The story of actual ascents must be left to our illustrations show- 
ing some of the adventures of California's great Sierra Club. 

Of all high mountain scenes which reward such strenuous sport, the 
glacial head-basins are the most interesting. For they hold the secret of 
the glacier's method. The fundamental importance of such cirques as 
makers of mountain landscape was not recognized, even by leading geolo- 
gists, till a decade or two ago. Much less was it understood that the tool 




Matterliorn Canon, seen from its e:ist slope. Matterhorn Peak ( 12,27:2 ft.), is on the sky- 
line at rig'lit, and the Saw-Tooth Ran^^e in the distance on left of center. This slope 
bears one of the noblest forests of beautiful alpine hemlocks to be found in the Park. 

with which that work is done is the "bergschrund," or crevasse across the 
head of every living glacier, separating the moving ice from the snowfield 
above (See page 129). That the bergschrund, through its exposure of 
the head-wall to daily thawing and drenching, and to nightly freezing, 
plucks huge rocks from the mountain, and so drives the cirque deeper and 
farther back, till great peaks are undermined and overthrown, and broad 
passes are cut where two glaciers head together, — this world-old romance 
of the silent, icy heights is one of the newest nature-stories told by twen- 
tieth-century science. So little were these things known a few years ago, 
indeed, that the famous Scotch geologist, Professor Geikie, could describe 
the "corries" or cirques of the Scotch Highlands as mainly excavated by 
"convergent torrents," dropping over their rims! But if Geikie's theory 
begged the question, it remained for our distinguished American scientist. 
Dr. Gannett, president of the National Geographic Society, writing as late 
as 1898, to ascribe the cirque to the avalanches which its steep walls induce. 



134 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 




Neither Scot nor American visual- 
ized his mountain as it was before 
the glaciers had clawed into its 
heart. Said Gannett: 

Glaciers commonly head in amphithe- 
aters or cirques — basins lying under the 
shadow of the summit cliffs. An amphithe- 
ater is surrounded on three sides by vertical 
walls or steep slopes, down which the ice 
and snow slide in avalanches. The effect is 
precisely like that of a waterfall. The fall- 
ing snow and ice dig a hollow or depression 
at the foot of the steep descent, just as water 
does. Such amphitheaters are found at the 
heads of all glacial gorges in the high moun- 
tains. — Xational Geographic Magazine, vol. 
'. p. 419. 

Dr. Gannett assumed the ex- 
istence of the "vertical walls" and 
"steep descent" — the very things 
his theory professed to account for ! 
But Held work by those indefatiga- 

.* Typical «;iari:,i . ir.n.e on Kuna .res,, su.-h ^Ic gkcicr-trailers, Johnson and 
a horseshoe-shapeii ii.aii-i..isiii i» due by Matthes, discovcred the real cause. 

each fX'lacler. iiniiik' (he her^-.s4>hrllii(l as a tool. 

It was the bergschrund that dug 
the cirques and modeled the peaks of this new land of the West, just 
as, in older time, it helped to level the once lofty ranges of the East. 

California's mountains 
crown all her diversified 
wealth of scenery and cli- 
mate. The story of her 
old glaciers is as fascina- 
ting as the new life of 
tree and flower which they 
have made possible. Un- 
der the gentle and unfail- 
ing sunshine of the high- 
lands, on one of their 
broadest alpine meadows, 
those dauntless explorers, 
the members of the Sierra 
Club, led by John Muir, 
America's greatest moun- 
taineer and long their presi- 
dent, discovered the Foun- 
tain of Youth, and proved 

/•III ,' c * Piute Mountain, and I.akelet near the head at 

It no table but a ract or the seavey Pa»». 




ON THE CALIFORNIA SKY-LINE 



135 



Yosemite Sierra. Here, at Soda 
Springs on the Tuolumne, they have 
established their upland headquar- 
ters, Parsons Lodge, a memorial to 
another beloved member, and from 
this base in alternate summers they 
explore all the neighboring heights. 
But for Muir no building is a fit me- 
morial. He is commemorated truly in 
the stark granite trail which bears his 
name, leading south from the Yosem- 
ite country to the alps of the southern 
Sierra. 

And what a leader was Muir ! As 
one reads his books or recalls inspir- 
ing talks with him, George Sterling's 
lines on another great Californian 
come to mind: 

of all he said, I best recall: 

"He knows the sky who knows the sod ; 

And he who loves a flower loves God." 
Sky, flower and sod, he loved thera all. 

The Sierrans testify their love of 
the mountains by spending a month 
each summer among them. This is 
the sanest and most joyous of sport. 
It was my privilege a few years ago 
to join the club's large party at their camp in Tuolumne Meadows, and 
there learn how two hundred and fifty men and women, drawn from all the 
professions, lawyers, teachers and business men, students, doctors, preach- 
ers, were able, after a day's climbing, to gather about a huge campfire, and 

jest away their weariness in 
club songs : 

There are rocks in the cradle where 
I sleep, 
And roots and cones embedded 
deep ; 
.Aslant I lie upon tny bed. 

My feet are higher than my head. 
I know I shall not hear the "call" — 

My camp is farthest off of all; 
And so I dare not go to sleep. 
While ants and lizards o'er me 
creep. 




liritiiii itt S.'O-foot Sequoias, shon'iii^ oliar- 
a*'teristi<' dome shape of erown when 
unbroken. The sharp-pointeil trees at 
sides are White Firs (Abies eoneolor). 




Xearing the Summit of >lt. I.yell. 



Ah ! those mountain fire- 
sides, after the long marches 



136 



YOSEMITF. AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 




Vif%^v Knst from ll«>iisoii I*:ins (10.i:tO ft. I. In llie fort'K t'ottiid, Wilson (rrt-k <'Hrit»n leadx 
lloivn to thv >latteriiorn Cafion. I^iffht iniIeK fast, 4'onneMS >loiln(ain rises at renter of 
the sky-line, 

over the snow-rields, or across the passes, or down the canons! We were 
not always frivolous. One evening, a brilliant college philosopher put into 
crisp English Plato's legacy to modern life. Again, a returned displomat 
outlined America's relations with the Orient, and a well-known Hebrew 

scholar, turning from philology, very 
delightfully describeil the birds of Yo- 
semite. Another night, a distinguished 
scientist from California's great uni- 
versity explained how he told the years 
of a trout. "We estimate the age of 
a tree," said the solemn professor, "by 
its growth rings. We estimate the age 
of a horse by its teeth. We estimate 
the age of a woman by counting ten, 
and then asking. We estimate the age 
of a fish by noting the circles in its ear- 
bones." No wonder those "serious" 
campfires drew crowds of tired tramp- 
ers ! 

This inspiring society is one of the 
most useful of California organiza- 
tions. We mar\el that the East goes 
to Europe to see mountains. This will 
be true until we make our own more 
Unable mountain districts as accessible 

Sno« IMai.1 tSaroodes san«...i»ea..— the ^^ ^j.^ fhe AlpS, and aS Wcll knOWn. 

hMv iMiic- h*-H. «hero its srni.v s<i.ins Tlic Slcrra Club is hard at work on 

iiikI llfNliy liliM»(l-r4Ml tlii\\t'rs 4-Io.h('I>' t % 

follow the relreal of thv snow. ttlCSC tUSKS. 





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Upper Hetch He»chy. viewed from Ranrherin Trail on north side of I/e Conte Point. 
IVorth Dome is seen on tlie rij^-ht. Kolana Rook In eenter, and Smith l*eak on the left, 
4,200 feet above the tloor of the Valley. 



IV. 



TUOLUMNE GRAND CANON AND HETCH HETCHY 




I see an eagle sweep 
.Athwart the blue; a gleaming river bind 
In gorgeous braid the valley's golden gown; 
A cataract plunge o'er its distant steep, 
And flutter like a ribbon in the wind. 

— Herbert Bashford. 

HE Sierra Club discovered the Fountain of Youth, which men 
have sought for centuries; and having taken possession of it, now 
plans to guard the treasure well, sharing it, however, with all 
who may come to drink its sparkling waters and breathe its moun- 
tain air. In the homelier language of to-day, this coveted fountain is the 
"Soda Springs" on the north rim of Tuolumne Meadows, a dozen miles by 
Tioga Road from Tenaya Lake, and twice as far from Yosemite Village. 
No finer spot could be found for a mountaineers' rendezvous in the 
High Sierra. The great valley known as Tuolumne Meadows — a Hlled-up 
lake basin at the junction of the Dana and Lyell Forks of the Tuolumne 
River — is about ten miles long and two in width. On all its sides, the 
highest mountains of the central Sierra stand guard. Conness, Dana, 
Mammoth and Lyell peaks are upon the north and east. The unique 
Cathedral Range overlooks it immediately on the south. Lambert Dome 
rises from its floor, and, still more beautiful, Fairview Dome towers over 
its lower end, where the river, leaving its quiet meadow reaches, plunges 
down the vast Tuolumne caiion on its boisterous way to Hetch Hetchy. 
Upon this capital site, the club some years ago bought the old Lam- 
bert, or Lembert, homestead, a quarter-section in the heart of the Meadows, 



140 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 




l>otvi'r lOnd of 'I'littlliiiiiie llt':i€loi%.s. tvitli <'ii(bedrjil l*(>uk on the sky-lliic. 'I'lie Tio^u Itoail 
skirtN the Niiuth Nlile i>f the Valley, whieh lis als4» rea<'lied liy niiiiiy trnilM, innkinK it 
the niOKt aeeeNslhle point In the n<»rth<'aNtern part of the I'ark. ivliile the Important 
mountain** MiirroiindinK it make it a favorite Mtartlnu point f<»r exploration. In the 
eenter of thlM pietlire i.s .seen the Soda S|»rinBs traet of the Sierra Clnh, ItSO a*'res. inelu- 
dins the Sprln^^H themselveN, at the edKe of the tvooded moraine nitrth of the river liend. 
Tbe Club ItaN ereeted a lodK'e here. 'I'liis \iev.' is from the summit of l.amhert l>4»me. 

which was preempted by John Baptist Lembert, a stockman, in 1885, be- 
fore the creation of the National Park. The tract embraces several fine 
mineral springs, and with one exception is the only private holding in the 
eastern section of the Park. The land is part meadow and part hillside 

facing the moun- 
tains on the south. 
Its central location, 
with the Tioga road 
running south and 
east, and trails radi- 
ating to all parts of 
the Tuolumne wa- 
tershed, makes it 
the natural starting 
point, either for 
mountain climbing, 
or for exploration 
of Tuolumne Caiion 
and the alluring re- 
gion north of it. 

The AVhIte < as<;i<li-. in I noliiiii iic Itini al I oiiiiess ( :rik ll.-isin. ° 

All of the Tnoli le's aneient eataraels have eut through r rom it OnC gOCS 

their plaeier steps anil l»e4*oiiie caseades. >laiiy <)f these. • . 1 J* «. 

like the one in vle«. are of (jreat heiuht anil splendor. With CCJUal UireCt- 




TUOLUMNE GRAND CANON AND HETCH HETCHV 



141 




ness across the passes to Mono 
Lake or west to Hetch Hetchy. 

Many times in its history, at in- 
tervals of a few years, the Club has 
found Tuolumne Meadows a con- 
venient and delightful base for sum- 
mer explorations; and here, on the 
one hundred and sixty acres which 
good fortune enabled it to acquire, 
it has now erected its High Sierra 
headquarters. This structure, ad- 
mirably planned to fit into the 
upland scene, and built of rough 
stones from the moraine on which 
it stands, is named "Parsons Me- 
morial Lodge," in honor of the late 
Edward T. Parsons, long a direc- 
tor of the society, and one of its 
most active mountaineers. With 
an established mountain home, the 
Club returns more frequently than 
ever to the Meadows as a climbing 
center, and, save for its trips into 
the Southern Sierra, is likely to find hereabout enough climbing of varying 
difficulty, to occupy most of its members on most of its summer expeditions 
for years to come. 

It is only a day's good walk from Soda Springs to the summit of 
Mt. Dana and back. The Tioga Road and Dana Fork are followed to 
the foot of the mountain, whence the trail climbs the pass between Dana 
and Gibbs. The ascent from the saddle is short and easy. The summit 
of Dana commands a view of more snow-peaks, probably, than one can 
see with so little labor anywhere else on the continent, while a mile down 
on the east side lie Mono Lake, rimmed with fine mountains, and, south of 

it, a gray and grim line of volcanic 
peaks. 

From the Dana-Gibbs saddle 
one July day, — the only stormy day 
of that Sierra Club outing, — I be- 
held a scene not soon to be forgot- 
ten. In Tuolumne Meadows, west- 
ward, it was raining lightly; but be- 
low us, on the east, a wild thunder- 
storm swept the Mono Lake basin 
^. ^ with lightning and rain. All the 

Cookstoves on Ibr niuroli. l':irl ..I ili<. Sierrn 1-1 l rn J 

cinb'.s commissary in motion. great amphitheater seemed filled 



Glen Aulin anil \\ iidfat I'liint. near the upper 
end of Tu4tluiiine Grand I'niion. 



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IS 




loluniiip FnIK, nt (he llenil of the Ornrul 1'nnoii of the Tuolumne: — lirst and mo.st Ini- 
l>i>rtnnt of the 4>ii.s4-:ideN by nhieh this ntihly turbulent rii er, droiipin;; r>.0()0 feet In 
twenty-live inileM, eoines tu the (|uiet uuters jind t\ild Kairden>» of lleleh lletchy. 




Grand Canon of the Tuolumne, seen from Its north «all. liM»k.iit»4 ai'r«».sM t<» ifae 4lfe|>l> 
eroded side of FalU Ridj^e. This vast cutting by glacier an<l stream extends from Tuol- 
uuine Meadows to Hetch Hetcby, twenty-five miles in length and from 3.000 feet to a 
mile in depth. 



144 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 




Lo Coiite Falls, on the Tiioltitilne al>i>\t* (he \\ iiler^vheels. 



with the black, solid 
mass of the tempest; 
but as flash upon 
flash pierced the 
darkness, we saw, 
^^^^ \ivid as day, the 
[ ' ^1 ^^i^^^^^^l breakers beating the 

shore of the lake, 
and the trees upon 
the islands that dot 
its breast. While 
this storm blackened 
the Mono basin at 
our feet, beyond 
stretching far into Nevada, range after range rolled away, waves of a sea 
of mountains, flashing in the same sunshine that bathed our lofty outlook. 
Other peaks are reached from the Tuolumne base with almost equal 
ease. The trail to Mt. Lyell and its neighbors follows up Lyell Fork, 
and unfolds a succession of splendid mountain pictures. In other direc- 
tions, trails lead north to Conness Mountain, remarkable for the sheer 
walls of great glacial head-basins, and to beautiful Matterhorn Caiion and 
the Benson Pass country. Those who like still harder climbing may go 
with the Tuolumne down the whole length of its rough canon to Hetch 
Hetchy. The Sierra Club parties commonly divide, part taking the trail 
across the uplands, the rest choosing the 
pathless river gorge. The former route 
offers the inspiration of wide views from 
the heights; the latter, the zest of a long 
scramble across huge boulders and pol- 
ished benches, around frequent cascades, 
and over the walls of such impassable 
box-canons as Mulr Gorge. The canon of 
the Tuolumne is one of the deepest and 
wildest glacier-troughs in the world. Its 
walls rise to heights of a mile above the 
mad ri\er, with constantly changing inter- 
est in their sculpture. 

The waterfalls of the Tuolumne are 
nowhere comparable in altitude with Ver- 
nal or Nevada Falls; almost invariably 
the erosion of their granite glacier-steps 
has con\erted them from straight cataracts 
into broken, gliding cascades; but they 
have the fascination of infinite \'ariety and 
the impressive power of repetition, while 




t'atheilnil Creek l''nllN, (he tine ens- 
eacle hy ivhieli ('ii(heflral C'reeic 
flropN tn(i» 'ruolniniie Cnntin. 



TUOLUMNE GRAND CANON AND HETCH HETCHY 



145 




C alil'i>riiia Falls and I [iper A\ aterirheels. 



their setting, at the 

bottom of this truly 

grand canon, is far 

more stupendous 

and wonderful than 

that of the great 

Merced cataracts. 

For twenty-five miles 

of cascades, rapids, 

sheer falls of lesser 

drop, and delight- 
ful glacial tarns, the 

wild river plunges 

down a path so nar- 
row and difficult 

that to follow it two 

or three miles is 

sometimes a day's work for a party of experienced climbers. Even these 

climb over and around Muir Gorge, rather than risk their lives in its 

deep flume. 

Camping at Conness Creek basin, below the splendid Tuolumne Falls, 

and at the foot of the noble White Cas- 
cade, most of the Sierra Club party, one 
July before the present trail was made, 
went down the caiion as far as the Water- 
wheel Falls. It was a surprising and I 
dare say almost unique scene that rewarded 
the hard tramp over rough earthquake 
talus and through the dense chaparral. 
These veritable "waterwheels" are found 
where the turbulent river, shooting down 
smooth inclines at furious speed, drops in- 
to spoon-shaped depressions caused by the 
erosion of soft rock. The water is hurled 
aloft, twenty to forty feet at different 
stages of the stream, and the backward 
action of the spray gives a good imitation 
of a wheel revolving with great velocity. 
Returning to Conness Creek, we took 
the high trail, a day or two later, up the 
fine Cold Creek Meadows, and across Vir- 
ginia Caiion, thence climbing an unnamed 

*'"?„"«";" "rl7^i'' 17opr„rMa;: P^ss to reach Miner Lake, and late in the 

terhnrn Cafion. where there Is a jaftCmOOn dcSCCnded thrOUgh a nOtCWOrthv 
remarkable forest of this most Ir riL 'ri *i ii 

graceful of alpine trees. itorest ot ttic beautitul mountam hemlocks 




146 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 




Largest of the "AVaterwheels," Tuolumne Cauon. 

to our night's camp in Matterhorn Caiion. Matterhorn Peals, and the 
cafion are worth seeing, but the next day, after we had climbed the long 
trough of Wilson Creek to Benson Pass, and then ascended the hills over- 
looking the pass at an elevation of about 10,500 feet, a wonderful array of 
mountains, cafions, valleys and lakes swept majestically from Conness on 
the east around the circle to Rancheria Mountain and the blue deeps of 
Tuolumne Canon in the southwest. Everywhere the vast amphitheater 
told of its ancient inhabitants, the glaciers, now long vanished, but pro- 
claimed in the clean-cut cirques, deep-set glacial lakes, and silvery water- 
falls dropping from hanging valleys high on distant canon rims. 

Descending from Benson Pass, the trail wound round Volunteer Peak, 
past Smedberg Lake, and in the sunny afternoon brought us to camp on 

Rodgers Lake, the queen of 
all lakes on the north side 
of the Park. Leaving this 
camp the next morning, 
abandoning the ilelightful 
lake shore was a hard part- 
ing. But the day brought 
new wonders in the great 
views it gave us of Tuol- 
umne Canon, as the trail 
oc '^■IH^HBB skirted its north wall. Camp 

CoaKtinK on the folUhed liranite. n< (he W nler«vheels. at Ulgnt at rlCaSant Valley 





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148 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 



in Piute Caiion was followed by the long ascent of Rancheria Mountain, 
the next day, through forests of red fir (J hies viagnifica) that were a joy 
to see. These stately trees justify Chase's enthusiasm: "If I were called 
upon to choose the one among the conifers that I would live and die by, I 
should choose the red silver fir, with no fear of ever wearying of its sub- 
lime companionship." 

Reaching camp on Rancheria early in the afternoon, we had more 
glimpses down into the Tuolumne abyss, and still more the following morn- 




SiiiiNct on SnieflliiTK l<nke, one of the NiiurceN f>f Piute Creek, north of the Tuolumne. 

ing, when the trail led us westward to Rancheria Creek. The descent into 
its caiion brought us to its charming falls, and finally to the Mecca of our 
pilgrimage, lovely, famous, changing Hetch Hetchy. 

This book is not a brief for or against the San Francisco power and 
water dam. Enough has already been said on both sides of that contro- 
versy that were better left unsaid; and although I am heartily with those 
who oppose the commercializing of any of our too few national parks, I 
recognize that many conservative and disinterested Californians, both in 
and out of San Francisco, hold that the conversion of Hetch Hetchy to the 
city's use was necessary, and that it need not close the Tuolumne watershed, 
or preclude the establishment of sanitary camps and hotels for visitors who 
may wish to explore the Tuolumne highlands. The issue was fought in 
good faith, and to a finish. Congress acted sincerely in the belief that 




B — 



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: !3 



150 



VOSEMITE AND ITS HICH SIERRA 



the necessities of this case transcended the danger of a possibly troublesome 
precedent. Its action, confirmed by court decisions and commercial set- 
tlements, has closed the controversy so far as the public is concerned. It 
remains for me only to point out that Hetch Hetchy is soon to become one 
of America's finest lakes, and 
that, in the change from a glori- 
ous mountain Valley to a unique 
mountain lake, some far-reach- 
ing public benefits will result. 
If there were no Yosemite, 
Hetch Hetchy would doubtless 
be the most celebrated Valley 
in America. But it is mislead- 




in the Heiirt of the Tuolumne (irand 
t'nnon. Above, the Tuolnnine In ween 
near its jtiiiftion ivllli t'athetlral 
("reek. The louver vie«- >*ho\v.s the 
entranee to ^luir (iorjie. Here the 
ri^er eontraets to a raee-llke Ntreani. 
Kri|»|iecl helween the sheer walls of 
a Ikix eanon. ^vhieh is Inipa.ssnble 
save at li»«est water. Kew have 
e^er iiiaile the trip. 



ing, though easy, to describe it 
as merely a minor edition of the 
more magnificent caiion. The resemblances, of course, are startling. 
Sheer gray walls of granite, marked with "royal arches," crowned with 
domes, and hung with splendid waterfalls, rim a similar level valley floor. 
This records the filling of an ancient glacial lake, which is still more plainK 
recalled in the high rock sill at its lower end (See page 154). Here the 
Tuolunme, after flowing la/ily for three miles amidst meadows and the 
charming forests which ha\e now been felled by the engineers, cut a narrow 



152 



YOSEMITE AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 



box-canon, where now the San 
Francisco dam is building. 
Slowly passing this bar, the 
stream at once resumed its role 
as a caiion torrent, and bounded 
wildly away to join the distant 
San Joaquin. Thus the Valley 
duplicated the glacial story of 
\'osemite. 

But Hetch Hetchy had, and 
has, a character and atmosphere 
all its own. Three hundred 
feet lower in altitude than Yo- 
semite, it is only half as long 
and wide, with walls two-thirds 
as high. The smaller caiion is 
warmer, sunnier, more gra- 
cious. Its beauty is less appall- 
ing, and while the forests re- 
mained, its charm was so much 
more intimate that save for the 
formal resemblance and con- 
tiguity of the two Valleys, a 
reader of mountain character 
might never think to compare 
the gentler graces of Hetch 
Hetchy with the stupendous and 

startling grandeurs of the more famous canon on the Merced. 

The walls of Hetch Hetchy, imposing in their height and sculptured 

forms, will make a very notable frame for the restored lake. Its two great 

waterfalls, with the fine cascades in the branch canons of Rancheria and 

Till-Till Creeks, so far as not buried by the 300-foot lake level, will always 

be among the most beautiful in the Park. But the Valley floor, with all 

its splendor of mountain 

flowers and stately forests, 

is gone forever. Utility 

apart, and as a matter of 

beauty, no lake can ever 

take its place, or make up 

the loss of such groves of 

pines and oaks. Black oaks 

dominated here, just as the 

yellow pines are supreme 

on the floor of Yosemite. 

Ti, I I ,. * VVeliirhinK the llunnnffe. ThiM cereiiioiiy preoeileN each 

aller than the live oaks, ilay-s mar.-Ii on n sierra <liil( outing. 




Little Heteh Hetchy, ;i mile nliove the iiinin Val 
ley; Kolann Ki^ek in the distance. 





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154 



YOSEMITE AM) ITS HIGH SIERRA 



with vast crowns of bright deciduous 
foliage, they formed here the noblest 
oak groves I have ever seen; and 
many a lover of friendly trees who 
happily knew Hetch Hetchy Valley 
will be haunted by their ghosts as his 
automobile speeds him past the level 
waters of Hetch Hetchy Lake. 

But those sentiments are no longer 
relevant. For the future of Hetch 
Hetchy is now inextricably linked with 
that of San Francisco and its neigh- 
bor towns of the Bay District. It has 
become the guarantor of health and 
prosperity to a community already 
passing a million of population. 

California began as a mountain 
commonwealth, washing its first riches 
from river gravels with water from 
the Tuolumne, Merced and scores of 
other streams. These streams yield 
less gold dust to-day, but greater 
wealth. Water itself is now the chief 
gold of California — water for health- 
ful li\ing, for irrigation, manufac- 
tures, power. 

When Congress, acting disinterest- 
edly for what it deemed the good of California, authorized San Francisco 
to impound the flood waters wasting from 650 square miles in the Tuol- 
umne, Lake F^leanor and Cherry Creek watersheds, it endowed the city 
with perpetual wealth beyond all the Tuolumne country had yielded to 
its goldseekers. 

New York City is spending $162,000,000 to add 500,000,000 gallons 
a day to its water supply 
without getting a single can- 
dle-power of electric energy. 
Los Angeles, for $30,000,- 
000, has providently made 
sure of 260,000,000 gallons 
per diem from Owens river, 
and expects an electrical de- 
velopment of 49,000 horse- 
power. Changes in the 
prices of labor and materials 
since San Francisco voted 




Suiiri.se In Hetch Helrhy 




A \oliil>l<- 



Mit I nitanieil I. like In l'Mennt>r C'lifinn above 
l.nke ICIeanor. 



TUOLUMNE GRAND CANON AND HETCH HETCIIY 



155 



its $45,000,000 of 4^2 per cent bonds in 1910 may increase the cost of the 
Hetch Hetchy-Lake Eleanor project by fifty per cent. Even so, San Fran- 
cisco's investment will be the best of the three. For the engineers have 
calculated that it will not only add 400,000,000 gallons daily to the city's 
present water supply — a generous per capita allowance of 100 gallons a 




Hetrhy Hetoliy Gorjte. Here is seen the roek sill telling of the Valley's history as a 
fliled-nii glaoial lake. In this gullet, twenty yards ivide, the San Franeisro engineers, 
under authority of (onBress, are building a 300-foot dam, nhich ivill oreate a lake 
seven miles long, impounding 112,000,000,000 gallons of the Tuolumne's snow wr.ters, 
now wasted in spring floods. This will add 400.000,000 gallons daily to the water 
supply of the San Franolseo flay Distriet, In bringing it to sea-level, an eleetrio devel- 
opment ultimately totaling 200,000 horse-p(»wer is promised. 

day for a future metropolitan district of 4,000,000 inhabitants — but will 
develop 250,000 horse-power of hydro-electric current. 

In a word, the return from the city's outlay should, after redeeming 
the bonds, greatly reduce taxes, while providing water and power at low 
prices for the entire municipal, industrial and domestic needs of the Bay 
section for generations to come. 

Any account of the wider Yosemite that is fast coming into public 
use must make note of the opening of San Francisco's Hetch Hetchy rail- 
road, sixty-eight miles along the Tuolumne. This for the first time fur- 
nishes direct access to Hetch Hetchy Valley, and a base for exploring the 
wild mountain and lake region north and east of it, stretching from the 
Lake Eleanor headwaters to Tuolumne Grand Caiion. Many visitors 
may be expected to enter the Park by this railway, visiting Hetch Hetchy, 



156 



YOSEMITE AND ITS llKill SIKRKA 




Lnke lOlennor. five miles north^v«-'«( of llcti-h lleti'hy. This heaiilif iil iiiuuntnin-wiille*! 
Inke, enlarged by n dam nt its outlet, Im now a part of the San Franeiseo water NyNtem. 

and thence journeying across the hills by auto-stage from Mather Station, 
via the Tuolumne Big Tree Grove, to Yosemite Valley. The trip is full 
of scenic and historical interest. For the lower Tuolumne Canon is all 
"Bret Harte country"; the "bars" and "flats" along the river still bear 
the names given them by the old Argonauts who worked them for their 

"dust," and Groveland 
furnished the original 
of "Tennessee's Part- 



Next to the Hetch 
Hetchy Railroad, the 
most important step in 
opening the Tuolumne 
below Soda Springs for 
\isitors is the new trail 
now to be completed 
from Harden Lake to 
Pate Valley. It will be 
one of the most popu- 
lar trails in the Park, 
leading down to the 
very heart of the Tu- 
olumne Grand Canon. 




''l^e-l''iiiKer I'^jill.s, In Uanrlteria ("reek. 



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The **^IeK|iil«-> .*• iMit* of lli*- iiuix>i \ tl.i imxleltMl Oifs; Treej* in the >luri|K»s:i Grove. This lilant 
Sequoia is rredileil (»tlM>ially ivlth ii rireii inference of seventy feet at the ground, and a 
diameter of -2.:t feet. \t ten feet up. these diinenNii>nN nre a thiril lewH; but above its 
biilKinu base the Sequoia's etiliininar bole tapers slo^vly up to its eonipaet eroivn. 




Cavalrymen at the Cabin in >lari|io.sa <;r*>ve. For many years the NutitMiiil I 'ark ^vas 
policed by a cletail of Vnited Stutes ea^ airy, and its Superintendent was an Army 
olttoer. This system, however, was changed by the last Feileral ailministratlon to one 
of civilian supervision. 



V. 



KINGS OF THE FOREST 

Poems are made by fools like me. 
But only God can mnke a tree. 

— Joyce Kilmer: "Trees." 

In terraced emerald they stand 
Against the sky, 
Each elder tree a king 
Whose fame the wordless billows magnify. 
— George Sterling: "An Attar of the West.' 




|HE crowning glory of the Yosemite country is its forests. Every- 
where below timber-line, these boldly make themseUes a factor 
in the mountain scene, and always they render to it an invaluable 
service, both of beauty and of utility. On the farthest ridges, 
they climb to inaccessible heights, and up to the very limits of plant life 
are found struggling to conceal the glacial scars, soften the bleakness of 
moraine and caiion, and decorate the barest granite benches with tough, 
adventurous pines and junipers. Covering valley and mountain-side alike 
with their protecting coat of rich green verdure, they shelter the snows and 
maintain the mountain springs. Thus, both directly and indirectly, they 
work incessantly to beautify the High Sierra, while, by preserving the head- 
fountains of river supply, they make possible the agriculture of the lands 
below. 

The Yosemite forests are mainly composed of only a few great 
species. Commercially, they are almost wholly made up of conifers, the 



160 



YOSEMITE AM) ITS HIGH SIERRA 



oaks, maples and other hard- 
wood trees occupying a wholly 
secondary place in the vast 
army of tree life. Foremost 
among the cone-bearers in ex- 
tent and commercial importance 
stand the pines, with the grand 
Sugar Pine ( Pintu lambcrti- 
ana), noblest of all the tribe, 
and its ubiquitous rival. West- 
ern Yellow Pine ( P'niiis ponde- 
rosa), and the latter's hardy 
first-cousin, Jeffrey Pine {Pinits 
jeffreyi), far in the lead. Ex- 
tending the broad province of 
the pines upwards into the sub- 
alpine belt, and often far to- 
wards timber-line, the Lodge- 
pole Pine (Piiitis contorla) , 
here commonly called Tama- 
rack, undertakes the homely 
office of covering the wildest 
moraines and windiest ridges 
with forest life and something 
of forest charm. Two of the 
great family of the firs range 

from the upper edge of the Yellow Pine belt to the middle Tamarack zone. 

These are the White Fir {Abies concolor) antl Red or "Sil\er"' Fir (Abies 




SuKlir I'in** < IMiiii.s l:iiiilK*rli:iiiii ). loadcil Willi 
€M»lirN. 'I'liiN Ircr. kiiiK of nil llie pjiicN. In niitoil 
for ilN lliii' I'oiie.s, ttvelve lo liveiily iiiflicf, lonfji'. 




The "Falli'ii >loiiar<'li,*' ^vilh tri»o|i of I'lt^tllry. This K'reat Secilloia, nht'ii NlJindllif!^. wax 
our of till* InrueNi in the >larl|>ONn iirove. 




D.s5g 

k.jS a! 

f, -H a V 



162 



VOSEMITK AND ITS HIGH SIERRA 




A Tliiek Sfnnil of JelTrey nnd VuunK YeIlo*¥ Pine. The uilult trees in f<»rt'Krouiiil are 
JelVrey Fines, easily l^no^-n by the dee|i lissurin^; nnd Irre^iiliir ridures iif (lieir dnrit 
refl-l>roivn hiirlt. and its riil^'es irre;:;ularly eonnected. tMtntrastine' tvitti the l»rt>ad, 
sliield-lilie plates In tlie russet-red hark of mature Yellow I'ines < See pp. .%- nnd l«t;l». 
Tiiis interesting:^ pieture illustrates the open character 4»f the Sierran forest, ivhere one 
may often wander at will, ivith a compass for his only Kuide. 

niacfiiifica) , both of them splendid members of the clan. Less numerous 
than these, but still a familiar inhabitant of fertile \alleys and watered 
ridges, in the lower third of Yosemite Park, is the Incense Cedar [Liho- 

tedriis (Iccurroii ) , always an inter- 
esting and beautiful tree, with bark 
and foliage, and often with a crown, 
suggesting somewhat distant kinship 
with the greatest of all conifers, the 
Sequoia. 

The Yosemite National Park 
contains three groves of Sequoia gi- 
c/aiili-a, which botanists now agree 
in calling, with specific reference to 
Its pre-eminence among the world's 
•.permoi > a I ion.Mvs (r.-ck. sllva, "Big Trec." Thcse groves 




KINGS OF THE FOREST 



163 



naturally form the climax of 
the Yosemite forests, as the 
tree itself represents the climax 
of all plant life. Two of them, 
the Merced and Tuolumne 
Groves, on the west border of 
the Park, contain from thirty 
to forty mature trees each, 
some of them magnificent rep- 
resentatives of their kind. But 
the Mariposa Grove, on the 
south side of the Park, and 
reached via Wawona, is one of 
the largest and most important 
areas of Sequoias which are 
found in the central Sierra, and 
are termed "groves" by way of 
distinguishing them from the 
vast Sequoia "forests" of the 
southern slopes of the range. 

The Yosemite forest, of 
course, forms a mere fraction 
in the great blanket of tree life 
which clothes the western slope 
of the Sierra Nevada Range. 
This vast woodland is about five 
hundred miles long and from 
twenty to thirty miles in width. 
Predominantly a pine forest, it 
locks hands, at the Siskiyous, with the broader zone of Douglas Hr, which 
sweeps up the coast, through western Oregon, Washington and British 
Columbia, to the very edge of the Alaskan glaciers. But colossal as is the 
northwestern fir forest, holding in Washington and Oregon a full third 
of all the standing timber now left in the United States, yet the mid-Sierra 
belt of pines and firs embraces not only the most noteworthy trees for size 
and age which any country can claim, but also the finest open forests and 
the largest variety of conifers. The grandest of these cone-bearers, and 
therefore the world's noblest tree, the Sequoia, is found nowhere else. 

When an observant lover of trees crosses this California forest, tra- 
versing the very gradual west slope of the Sierra from the comparatively 
barren foothill belt of digger pine and poison oak up clear to the timber- 
line beneath the snowfields, he discovers that the forest he has seen divides 
itself with some distinctness into belts or zones, corresponding, though with 
many variations, to the parallels of elevation shown by the contour lines 
of a topographic map. The variations, he learns with a little study, are 




Sii^^ar I'ines and 'bellow Pine, .sho^vin^ the lar^-e 
flat plates in the hark of the mature Yellow 
I*lne eontrasteil with tlie .smaller anil .shal- 
lt»>ver convolution!-! in the hark of the other 
trees. 



164 



YOSEMITK AND MS II1(;H SIKRRA 



1 largely caused by ditierences 
in the character of the 
yrouini. Does it slope to 
the north or to the south? 
Is it k\cl land, well planted 
with soil and well watered 
by streams, or rocky hill- 
side, holding little of the 
melted snows? But in gen- 
eral the \ital factor in de- 
termining tree species, is 
temperature. Trees that 
l()\e the hot, dry lowlands 
not only shun the region of 
long winters and heavy 
snows, but they seldom in- 
\ade the median zones of 
moderate temperature and 
precipitation. On the other 
hand, some trees prefer the 
colder levels. "Often," says 
I'rof. Hall, "the line be- 
tween two belts is as sharp 
as though cut with a knife; 
again the belts overlap and 
intermingle in so confusing 
jeirre, i-m.-s. in the i..y„ K.,r.,t. e=.». of Y..s,.,ni..- ^ manner that even the ex- 

I'ark. Th«- ailiill tree K.-en here Is one of Ihe pert is bafHed in an attempt 
IliTne-s* speeiinens, helnp: about ten feet in (liaineter J* ' * U U '^ D 

ami 2(10 ft. hiKh. 'I'his tree fre<|iientN liare firanite tO dlStmgUlSh them. DUt 

slopes an.l the tops of ^ oseo.i.e .ioo.es. ,vhere it j,^ general it is UOt difficult 

to discern the broad boun- 
daries which climate and 
rainfall have set for the several species. These establish type. 

If there were an ele\ation midway the western slope of the Sierra 
and high enough to command the whole of the Yosemite National Park, 
any one who climbed to its summit might, with the aid of a powerful field- 
glass, see spread out below^ him a series of forest belts, running north and 
south, and distinguishable by the foliage of their dominant trees. On the 
east, the farthest strip would be a thin cover of alpine forest, mainly com- 
posed of gav white-bark pine (Piiiiis alhuaulis) and somber mountain 
hemlock (Tsuga iiicrlcnsiana) . These two species alone inhabit the 
upper edge of their zone, dwarfed and pathetic forest outposts, no longer 
bearing the true form of trees, but starxed by the cold, short season, and op- 
pressed by the deep snow of long winters, until they are mere dense mats of 
tough, sprawling branches, on top of which even a horse could pick his 




often assumes (iw.'irfeii anil fniitjistit* forms; l>iit 
uniler favornitie eonilitioiis it nttalns n sliapeiy ami 
mastiii^e K'rowth. 




An A^ed Juniper, inhabiting o moraine 4»n trail fr(»ni Tuolumne lleiidoiVN to Conne.sN 
Creek. Tfiis pietureN<|ue and hardy tree, e<»iiiiiionly l^no^vn as AA'estern or Sierra 
Juniper, in believed to outlive all its eon temporaries save only the Sequoia. 



166 



YOSEMITIC AND ITS MICH SIERRA 



Steps. Such is the 
timber Hne in the 
Sierra, at an eleva- 
tion reaching well 
above 10,000 feet. 
But the lower bor- 
der of this alpine 
belt, a thousand feet 
below, shows quite 
a different forest. 
Here the pines am] 
hemlocks take cour- 
age from the less 
austere climate to 
stand erect. They 
gather in their first 
groups, along the 
little avalanche 
meadows, and offer 
shelter at their feet 
to some bright, in- 
trepid flowers. This 
is the upward limit 
of the mountain 
"parks," where cal- 
ochortus, cassiope 
and erythronium 
shoulder aside the 
loitering snow-crusts, in order that they may lose none of the too short 
summer. And hither come stragglers from the next tree zone, stray mem- 
bers of the far-spread lodgepole pine tribe (Pinus contorta) , with occa- 
sional supporters of western white pine (Piiiiis monticnla) , foretelling the 
better covered areas of their own belt, the zone of the lodgepole or tama- 
rack pine. This great tamarack zone shows many spaces occupied by 
Jeffrey pines, hemlocks and red firs. It is the first of the commercial 
forest, and, outside the Park, is beginning to contribute substantially to 
the necessary timber supply of the country. Below the tamarack forest 
we should see the great zone of the firs, red and then white, with sugar 
pines largely intermingled; and farther on to the west, the still more im- 
portant yellow-pine zone, extending down to and even beyond the boundary 
of the Park. 

Now, of course, there is no such commanding peak; but we are aidetl 
in imagining what we should see, if there were, by the views we obtain 
from such actual summits as overlook parts of the great Yosemite forest. 
Several of our illustrations in this volume tell us much. For example, 




Asprn l'\»rf.st iit l.jik** >lt*roed. 'I'hr larm* Iriiiik lit the rl^ht 
nIioivs sfrnti'lifs from Ihe films of imtiintiiiii liitiis. Yvlil<'h 
flfli^ht in rliitibinvr those trefs. The Aspen (I'oplilus treniu- 
loidest is the iii<»st Yviilely ilistriituteii of Aiiierienn trees, 
nin^fin;; from tlie \r4*tie firele to Mexiro; and -with the 
lllaek Wiiltiw (Saiix ni^r.'it it iiionop4>li/.es the dtstinetion 
of heinff eoinnion to both the Atluntie and the l*aelfio Coast. 



KINGS OF THE FOREST 



167 




arp:e.st I^od^'epole or Tainnra<*k I'ine in tlle I iiiteii 
States, found In the Sierra \'ati(»nai Forest just 
south of A oseinlte P:irlc. This exceptional tree 
measured six feet in diameter and l.'i^ ft. hi^h, eai'h 
dimension l>einK: dolilile that of the norinai type. 



the remarkable pictures on 
pages 29 and 115 give us 
the story of the extreme al- 
pine belt. In the former is 
shown Cathedral Peak Pla- 
teau, approximately 10,000 
feet, and deeply covered 
with snow till mid- July. It 
is obvious that the forest 
here is fighting odds too 
heavy to enable it to form 
a real cover for the barren 
waste, which only recently, 
in geological terms, was 
abandoned by the glaciers. 
The second picture even 
more graphically tells the 
unequal struggle of the 
forest to push its advance 
guard up the long ridges of 
the Mt. Clark group, to the 
utmost limit of tree life. 

But turn now to the illus- 
tration on page 20, show- 
ing what one may see from 
the top of Lambert Dome 
(9,400 ft.), in Tuolumne 
Meadows. Eastward, the 
\iew stretches from levels 
of less than 9,000 feet up to 
the snowy summits of the 
range. The forest below 
the spectator, as those who 
have explored the Meadows 
will recall, is mainly of 
lodgepole pine; and this 
tree predominates until, 
after covering the lower 
slopes of Dana, Gibbs and 
Mammoth, it at last finds 
the frost above 10,500 feet 
too constant even for its 
hardy constitution, and 
therefore yields the frozen 
ground to dwarf-pine and 



168 



VOSEMITE AND ITS IlICIl SIERRA 



alpine hemlock. Other illustra- 
tions confirm the story. i"or 
example, on page 27, the ris- 
ing slope of Dana Mountain 
above Tioga Lake {9.700 ft.), 
is seen scantily decked with the 
same trees, which send up their 
prostrate outposts almost to the 
rim of the dying glacier. 

But leaving these spectacles 
of Nature's struggle to beau- 
tify the alpine wastes, we must 
glance for a moment at the 
principal trees which constitute 
the main forest of Yosemite 
Park, — the trees which, outside 
the Park, furnish the bulk of the 
commercial timber of Califor- 
nia. These we characterize in 
the order of our meeting them 
as we descend from the High 
Sierra to Yosemite Valley: 

Loiigepole pine, the "tamarack" of 
the Sierra, called by some botanists 
Piniis lontorta mnrrayana, to distin- 
guish it from the scrub-pine (P. con- 
torta) of the coast. Grows in dense 
stands as a straight slim tree, which 
furnished the Indians' tent-poles, hence 
the name. Height, 50 to 100 ft., though 
the exceptional tree shown on p. 167 measured 150 ft. Most widespread of the pines, ranging 
from the Rocky mountains to tidewater on the Pacific, and from the Yukon to Lower Cali- 
fornia. Forms many fine homogeneous forests in Yosemite Park, at from 8,000 to 10,000 ft. (as 
in upper Tuolumne Meadows, on west slopes of Mts. Dana, Gibbs and Mammoth, and on 
Forsyth Pass). Easily recognized by its yellow-green foliage, arranged in "foxtail" tufts, 
the short needles growing in pairs; by its thin, scaly, grayish-brown bark, very resinous, and 
therefore giving the tree no fire protection; and finally by its small cones, which, when dry, 
cover the ground with thousands of little squat, pagoda-shaped burs, but which commonly 
remain closed on the trees for years, and are capable of resisting fire, thus insuring repro- 
duction of the species in districts burnt over. Of future importance commercially. 

Western white pine, the chief timber tree of Idaho and other parts of the Northwestern 
interior. Range within Yosemite Park, 6,000 to 10,000 ft., the finest examples appearing near 
the upper edge of its zone. Height, 100 to 150 ft. Bark, cinnamon-brown; checked in small 
squarish plates. Leaves in 5s, 2 to 4 inches long, blue-green. Cones 5 to 10 inches long, 
commonly curved; otherwise like sugar-pine cones, but much smaller. Timber almost as 
valuable as that of sugar pine. 

The firs, red and white. Red fir named from its thick, deeply checkeil bark, which on 
older trees is dark purplish-red. Mature foliage dark green, but new growth light, silvery 
green, giving the tree its other popular name, "silver fir." Well deserves its botanical name, 
"magnificent fir," its compact, spire-like crown rising to 175 or even 200 feet, and making it 
one of the handsomest trees in the Sierran forests, where it attains its greatest perfection. 
Forms occasional pure stands, as on Rancheria Mountain, in the Yosemite Park, though more 
commonly appearing with white fir, sugar pine and the Sequoia. Range, from 7,000 to 9,000 




lll:ii-k Oiiks 



''erii.s on A'ulley Flour. 



KINGS OF THE FOREST 



169 



ft., or even higher. Distinguishable 
from white fir by its larger cones, 
5 to 8 inches, borne upright on the 
top branches, as well as by its 
bark. White fir gets its name from 
the whitish bark of young trees anil 
the corky-gray bark of adults, the 
latter being much and irregularly 
roughened. Its cones are 3 to 5 in. 
long. Otherwise, it closely resem- 
bles its relative, though it is less 
stately in size, and its range does 
not extend beyond the 8,0110 foot 
level. 

Sugar pine {Pinits liirnhfrtumd) , 
the most splendid of all white pines, 
and one of the most important 
trees, commercially, of the Sierra, 
which is its chief habitat. Note- 
worthy for its tall, straight stems, 
reaching 225 feet in height and 10 
feet, occasionally more, in diam- 
eter. Easily distinguished from the 
familiar yellow pines by its foliage 
of darker green, its broader crown, 
which commonly throws out a few 
irregular branches far beyond the 
others, by its needles arranged in 
Ss, from 3 to 4 inches long, by its 
narrowly-furrowed reddish -brown 
bark, and by its remarkable cones, 
the largest on any tree, 12 to 24 
inches in length, and hanging by 
short stems from the long upper 
branches. Popular name due to 
the white sugar exuding from anv 
wound in the heartwood. Range 
3,000 to 7,500 ft. Timber of great 
commercial value. 

Western yellow pine {Pinus 
ponderosa) and its kin, Jeffrey pine 
(Pinus ponderosa var. Jeffrey!) . 
Most abundant and useful of the 
3-needle, or yellow pines, the for- 
mer not merely outranking in num- 
ber and yield all other timber trees 
of California, where, in the Sierra, 
it achieves its greatest perfection, 
but having a wider dispersion and 
adapting itself to a greater di- 
versity of soil and climate than any 
other American timber factor. A 
tree of great distinction, often 5 to 
10 ft. in diameter, with a straight trunk rising 175 to 200 ft. and a columnar crown of bright 
yellowish-green foliage, made up of needles 5 to 11 in. long, set in 3s and combined in great 
plumes, which distinguish this tree from all other conifers. Bark a grayish-brown, divided 
on adult trees by deep furrows into great plates, often 3 or 4 feet long and nearly a foot 
wide. Cones 3 to 5 in. long. Range, 2,000 to 6,000 ft. in the Yosemite Park, where it is the 
predominant tree on Yosemite Valley floor, and adds much to its beauty. Jeffrey pine has 
less height, a stockier trunk, broader crown, shorter needles of dark blue-green, and a range 




A Heaiitiflll (-rttup of Red Fir, one 4»f the iittlileNt mein- 
l>er.«i of the grreat family of llr.s. 




DiaiiiitiKr' (•r4iii|i, in '\lnripiisa <ir4>\'e. Sucli tine .si'iilptiiriii;^ of the tiiit'k fihrixiN reel linrk 

hiiiidrcd feet or iiiorr to their tlr.st linih. 



iinkes theNe ureHt Se<|iioia trunks, often ri.sinK' 

iful til an llie tlnfeil eo in inns of a tareek teiu|>le. 



in(»re heaiit 




Giant Sequoias at the Cabin in >laripo.s:i Grove. 



172 



VOSKMITK AND IIS IIICH SIl.kKA 



exteiuling to 7,50(1 or 8,000 ft. Instead of seeking fertile watered valleys, it frequents barren 
ridges and summits of Vosemite domes, but under favorable conditions attains splendiit sym- 
metrical proportions. Covers large areas on upper edge of the yellow-pine belt. 

Incense cedar {l.ihocedrus decurrens), last of the important trees contributing largely to 
the Vosemite forest. Common on the floor of Vosemite Valley. ,\ handsome tree, seldom over 
100 ft. high, but raising a broadly pyramidal crown of brilliant green on a conical trunk 
which is beautifully fluted in long plates of cinnamon-red-. bark, slightlv graver than that of 
the Sequoia. Seldom growing in pure, stands, it is found almost evervwhere within the 
3,000-7,000 ft. zone mingling with the other conifers and adding color and beauty to the 
forest. Timber very durable and valuable. 




'I'he "(■overiior 'I'oil*' <*rou|». onr of the tilu'.Ht fMiiiiliniiif .s «»f (iinnt Se«|ii<>i:iN in the 

>l:irl|»<»Nn *ir<»\e. 



Other contributors to the Vosemite forest picture, though numerous, 
are limited in their spread, and, save only the Big Tree, of less interest 
than the great forest-makers which I ha\'e thus briefly described. Doug- 
las tir {Psfudutsuya la.xifo/ia) , sometimes called Douglas spruce, but in 
truth neither spruce nor iir, but a false hemlock, is the supreme forest 
figure on the North Coast. Here it is of smaller size and forms no large 
stands. In Yosemite Valley, it courts the damp shade of the south wall; 
on the plateau above, it is found at Nevada Fall, Glacier Point, sporad- 
ically on the Wawona and Chinquapin Roads, and among the Tuolumne 
Sequoias. But it nowhere attempts to repeat its Northwestern supremacy. 



KINGS OF THE FOREST 



173 



The oaks of Yosemite and similar 
valleys and canons in the mid-Sierra 
have importance locally as factors in 
the landscape, but no timber value. Of 
these there are two. The intimate and 
highly decorative tree common on the 
rich valley bottoms is the broad-top, 
large-leaf deciduous species variously 
called Kellogg oak and California 
black oak {Ouerciis kclloggii, Oiicrctts 
Calif ornha). Its favorite belt lies 
just below that of the yellow pine; 
hence, while the pines outnumber the 
oaks in Yosemite the reverse was 
true at the lower elevation of Hetch 
Hetchy, before the trees were cut there 
in preparation for the San Francisco 
dam. The acorns from these oaks fur- 
nished the Indians with their meal for 
bread-making, and are stored by the 
woodpeckers for the winter food-sup- 
ply. By an inexplicable error, how- 
ever, Mr. Muir {Yosemite, p. 89), 
though he knew Yosemite better than 
most of us can ever hope to know it, 
ascribed this beneficence to the Cali- 
fornia live oak (Ouercns ac/rifolia) , a 
coastal oak which appears nowhere in 
the Park. 

But Yosemite Valley owes the deco- 
ration of its walls chiefly to another 
live oak, the canon oak, or maul oak 
{Ouercns ehrysolepsis) , perhaps best 
described by its other popular name, 
"golden-cup oak," given in recognition 
of the big turban-like cups that hold 
the tree's acorns, and late in summer 
are covered with a brilliant yellow 
down, seen afar. This tree never ap- 
pears on rich valley floors, but covers 
the talus slopes with grateful verdure, 
and is common on dry high-line trails. 

Western juniper {juniper occiden- 
talis), familiar to all who travel to Merced or Tenaya Lake, is one of the 
most variable and picturesque of the sub-alpine trees in the Park. Its 




he **<ieiieral Slieriiiaii,*' lar^e.st »»f nil 
trees, aiul monarch of the (^iant For- 
est in Setinitia \:itionnl Park. Its di- 
an»eter 4if ;{4 l/;S feet at its hase is a 
foot less than t]i:it of the "<>eneral 
tirnnt,'* l»lit twelve feet :il>4>ve ground 
it is 117. ."» feet. 



174 



YOSEMITF. AND ITS HIGH SIF.RRA 



largest growth, indeed, is 
attained in the Sierra ; hence 
it is also called "Sierra 
juniper." Usually short 
and stumpy, it may rise to 
a height of fifty or sixty 
feet, or, on wind-swept 
ridges, it may exhibit mere- 
ly a twisted, split, and mis- 
shapen stalk, topped with a 
grotesque crown. In the 
Yosemite Park, this juniper 
ranges to 10,000 feet or 
more, but is commonest on 
the benches of canon walls, 
and at tops of cliffs. Nota- 
ble junipers are to be found 
at the summit of Yosemite 
Point, and above Xevaila 
Fall. At such low altitudes 
its stocky trunk often grows, 
in the centuries of its long 
life, to a thickness of five or 
six feet, and its flattened 
crown may be broader than 
the tree's total height. 

I have left myself too 
little space to speak in de- 
tail of the noblest and most 
famous of all trees; but this 
default is the less serious in 
view of the full and accu- 
rate descriptions of the Se- 
quoia now e\erywhere ac- 
cessible, and will, I hope, be 
atoned for by the many pic- 
tures of typical Big Trees 
here shown. "By well-nigh 
universal consent," says 
Prof. Jepson, "Sequoia yi- 
yautea is regarded as the 
most remarkable member of the earth's silva. Its great age, its enormous 
bulk, its restricted habitat, its somewhat precarious biological foothold in 
the northerly part of its range, and its plain relationship with the dominant 
types of the Miocene flora, combine to gwe the species a unique interest." 




(■eiierni (iriiiit." olif 4>f lllc t'tilir l:ir;;i-st :iii<l most 
filiii«>lis <ii:iiit S<'i|iioi]is. Hs (lijiiiictrr iit li:i.se is :t.-.7.' 
fi'ff, lillil nt (\vt*l\»' feet lip is 'l'.\ fe€'t. This is the 
ehief attr:ielion of the tJeneral t>rant Xntiiinal I'ark. 




4 oniciiiporar.t ot \ojili. I li*' t:inu>iis "Grizzly (iinnt." pnt riareb of the >liiriposa 4; rove. 
has watehed the eareer of man upon the earth prohnl>ly fi)r forty centuries. It is one 
of a few trees found in the several (troves that are lielieved to he survivors of a former 
generation <»f Sequoias. — douhtless the oldest of all living: thinK's. This venerable Bip: 
Tree is thirty feet in diameter; its larj^est limb is six feet thieli^. Its helfi^ht. -4>4 feet, 
however, is less than that of ninny youne:er trees, the storms harlnjj; destroyed much 
of its erown. It shows few sijB;ns of senility, and may yet live many centuries. 



176 



VOSEMITE AND US IlKill SIKRRA 




' \ hihniiiii,** in the >ltiri|ioN:i Tirovc. Its 
\irKiii 4'r4»Yvii, Nh:i|»(*«l like iin jirrow- 
hejHl. iitr.H itet'ii ex4'e|iti<»nni in lliii.s far 
eKoniiiiiK' ilniiiaK'f l»y .sturm. 



\\ (Hilii \(>u know what the famous 
Big Tree really is, how it outlives all 
its forest comrades, enduring by the 
pluck that meets calamity with a laugh? 
A volume of botanical data would tell 
less of its habits, its virility, than one 
may learn by seeing a single example of 
Sequoia well-doing. Let us visit the 
little Tuolumne Grove, on the west 
boundary of the Park. This contains 
only thirty trees, among them some of 
colossal size and perfect proportion. 
But we have come to see a burnt and 
shattered stump that sets forth the vir- 
tues of its clan more bravely than any 
of its comelier 
peers. It is the 
so-called "King 
of the Forest." 

Among my 
boyhood friends 
was a worthy but 
broken old man. 
In earlier years 
he had served 
his community 
well. Ihen mis- 
fortune and ill 
health dealt him 
a cruel slap, and 
his kindly heart 
took on a veneer 
of eccentricity. 
He became a vil- 
lage"character.'" 
His neighbors, 
io\-ing him but 
knowing the 
tuist, put him 
gcnth' by as a 
negligible "back 
number." But 
when a test came 
that tried the 

V Typicjii Keil Fir, on 
soul ()t our town, Uancheria Mounlnln. 




KINGS OF THE FOREST 



177 




it was "Old Ben," the su- 
perannuate, whose fiber and 
courage saved the day. 

The forest life, too, has 
its crises; it provides tests 
of the hardest. And as 
human wrecks often regain 
their footing and make 
good, so a tree that by all 
signs is down and out, like 
an obsolete and seedy poli- 
tician, or king discrowned, 
— may not it "come back"? 
Originally our tatterde- 
malion "King of the For- 
est" was one of the noblest 
Big Trees. It had a circum- 
ference of more than ninetv 
feet. Its height was doubt- 
less three hundred. Its 
crown was worthy of a 
monarch of giants. Around 
it the tides of ordinary tree 
life rose and fell. Pines and 
firs, the sturdy commoners 
of the forest, spanning out their little generation of three or four centuries, 
came and went. But His Sequoia Majesty ruled on. 
For two thousand years, or even three, it was the pride 
of its stately grove. 

Then came disaster that would have wiped out any 
other tree. ¥\re destroyed one side of it, and ate away 
its heart. Of the huge bole there remained hardly a 
half cylinder of sound wood and thick cinnamon-colored 
bark. The crown fell, but this charred fragment stood, 
ninety feet of hollowed stalk, still Haunting two or three 
scorched and ragged little branchlets. It seemed merely 
a lopsided and ludicrous monument to departed gran- 
deur. Surely even a forest king, in such plight, might 
yield without dishonor, and returning to the soil await 
reincarnation in another age of Big Tree life. But not 
the unconquerable Sequoia. Blood will tell ! So long 
as a sound root remained, and sap still flowed, this 
"king" would be no less than kingly. 

Mustering its diminished resources, the stricken 
m-hortus veniisttiN). monarch held its ground. It is the Sequoia way, if a tree 



^laill Oak 4 (iucrciis chrysolepis), on >\'a\vona Road. 
This familiar tree, also i^lio^vii as "t'auon Live Oak,*' 
"Gold-C'u|> Oak,*' etc., is eoiiinion on hillsifles and 
eaiion n-alls in the louver half of the l*ark, and 
covers the talus and roek leilRes of Yoseniite and 
lleteh Hetehj- ivith low-spreading evergreen foliaf?e. 




178 



VOSKMH K AM) lis lIKill SIKKKA 



be weakened by fire, to clutch 
the soil more broadly than be- 
fore. Thus, here, the few re- 
maining roots were sent farther 
out, and new stores of nour- 
ishment drawn upon. But it 
must do more than feed. It 
is a tree's oflice to be beautiful. 
It is a king's right to wear a 
crown. So now the sur\iving 




Kin;:; of the Forest," a mere .shell. 

efl hy tire, of -what \vas oiiee the 
inoiiareh «>f the Tin»liiniiie tJrove: 
iHnv making: an heroio elVort to re- 
hiiilil its ero«li. and ;iet a ne^v start 
in life. The three tisares at its base 
slio^v that its (lianieter was ne;irly 
thirty feet. The tine tree in the 
foreur«>iin<l Hef t t is a six-foot lieil 

''ir I \hies ina^ntlie;! t. 

branchlets are cheerily turning 
upward, — also after the habit 
of the species when, crushed by 
lightning or storm, it quickly 



KINGS OF THE FOREST 



179 



rebuilds its top; and one of them has already taken shape there, far aloft, 
as a symmetrical young tree, undaunted by adversity, and fighting for its 
share of air and sunshine. Thus would the living skeleton hide its shame 
by grace of new foliage. Here's wishing it luck! Royal endurance merits 
homage. Long may so kingly a forest "character" play a part in the tree 
world! An eminent expert, famous for his knowledge of mankind, once 




Thi'ee Veterans, — the "Haverford" and •miIimi" trees in the ^lariposa tinne, and Galen 
Clark at the afse n( UTi. ThLs is said to lie the last ilieture of the eelehrated "(iliardian 
of Vosemite." who died a year later, in l!)lt). The "Hnverf*>rd,*' named for the oollep:e 
in Pennsylvania, illustrates the Indian praetiee of nsin^ Hi^ Trees :is haekhtjfs for 
fires. Althoiiffh Its eore was hurnt away, leaving: a eavern that is reputed to have 
sheltered seventeen horses and their riders, its reiuaininK roots have reaehed out the 
more stoutly for nourishment, and are supplying ample sap to stalk anil erown. 

declared: "Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life." 
This Sequoia King, more than human in its tenacity, is a veritable Job of 
the forest. Its faith forbids death. Better to keep on growing against 
odds, better to live even as a misshapen cripple, showing what humble 
beauty it may, than to stand a black and rotting shell where once it reigned 
Sovereign of the Woods! Truly, it is not alone in the Forest of Arden 
that we 

Find tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, 
Sermons in stones. 




I'lii* Twins," a siileiitlid (loiible tree in the Tuoluiiiiie (irtive. 



NOTES FOR YOSEMITE VISITORS 



I. ROADS, TRAILS. BRIEF EXCURSIONS. 

The short-time visitor to Yosemite will naturally wish, first of all, to see the 
great things near at hand. If he conies in his automobile, he will want to explore 
the Valley floor, traversing both the North- and South-side Roads from Happy Isles 
and Mirror Lake, the present limits of eastward motor travel, west to and beyond the 
"Gates of the Valley." This will enable him to obtain a general view of the Valley's 
colossal walls, note their characteristic sculpturing, and see at some leisure, if not close 
at hand, two of their most important cataracts, Bridal Veil and Yosemite Falls. He 
should also climb with his car at least to Inspiration Point, on the Bridal Veil-Wawona 
Road, to enjoy the tremendous picture it offers of the Valley as a whole. This famous 
outlook discloses less of beauty, no doubt, than does the view from the North Road 
on the bank of the Merced just west of Bridal Veil Meadows (see Frontispiece of this 
volume), but it tells even more of the height and massiveness of the well-proportioned 
features in the Yosemite scene (See p. 35). 

No one, however, should leave Yosemite, if he can help it, without seeing more 
than can be seen from the seat of an automobile. A \ast deal of the Valley's beauty 
must be learned from the trails. For example, only by their help can one gain a 
near-by view of any of the waterfalls, or any satisfactory view at all of the incom- 
parable cataracts in the Merced Canon above Happy Isles. The three falls to be 
viewed there — Illilouette, Vernal and Nevada — are among the world's noblest spec- 
tacles ; and few persons are so poor in time and strength as to be unable to ride, if 
not to walk, to some of the good viewpoints commanding them. 

Cataracts of the Alerced Cation. — Thus a ride or tramp of a mile over the horse- 
trail above Happy Isles brings one past the foot of the lUilouette's branch canon, with 
a fine distant view of Illilouette Fall itself (See p. 87), and to the bridge over the 
Merced. This is half a mile below Vernal Fall, which is well seen from here, and 
still better seen from either of the trails beyond (See p. 89). The lower or "Mist 
Trail" (foot travel only) leads along the south bank of the river, unfolding a suc- 
cession of remarkable pictures, and quickly gains the very side of Vernal Fall, midway 
of its height. After enjoying near-by views of the cataract and its famous rainbows, 
and getting somewhat damp 
in the mist which fills the 
canon, the climber finally as- 
cends a well-guarded stairway 
cut in the face of the vast per- 
pendicular cliff over which 
V^ernal pours, and reaches the 
platform above, at the brink 
of the cataract (See p. 91). 
The same startling but safe 
viewpoint may be reached on 
horseback by the upper trail 
from the bridge. On this ride, 
which is half a mile longer 
than the foot trail, the rider 
should pause long enough at 
Clark Point to study the scene 
below and beyond, which in- 
cludes not only Vernal Fall, Ready f..r ihr Irails. 




182 



YOSEMITK AND US Hl(;il SIKRRA 




<'ii|i aiKl .\4*viiflu Full. 
I:irk I'oint, nl>«ive \'frnal 



seen 
Fall. 



hut also Nevada, a mile farther up the 
river, with Liherty Cap and the Half 
Dome towering above and contributing 
mightily to the great picture painted by 
the old Merced Glacier. 

Easily continuing for this additional 
mile to the foot of the cataract, the \ isitor 
ascends the famous Zigzag Trail, through 
a small canon cut by the glacier at the 
side of Nevada Fall, gains amazing near- 
by views of that great spectacle { See pp. 
•^6, 97), and, after crossing the moraine 
above, finally stands on the north rim 
of the rushing Merced, where it gathers 
power and speed for its tremendous leap 
into the air and its bOO-foot drop. Here 
he should not fail to climb down to the 
guarded platform at the ver\' head of the 
fall (See p. 90). 

Frojii the Top of Nevada Fall. — The 
Nevada Fall platform (six miles from 
Yosemite Village) is a convenient resting 
place and starting point for other delightful trail ventures. From here one goes to 
Little Yosemite, a mile farther along the river, and on up the canon to Merced and 
Washburn Lakes, where trout bite and Merced Lake Lodge ofiers good accommo- 
dations for an indefinite stay. Or he turns north from Little Yosemite for the ascent 
of Half Dome and Clouds Rest. But if he is limited in time, his best choice will be 
Glacier Point. Crossing the bridge over the Merced above Nevada Fall, he quickly 
climbs the south rim of the canon and reaches Panorama Point, with its fine views 
of the Merced and lililouette below, and Half Dome beyond; descends to lllilouette 
Fall, easily seen from its head, by a short trail from the bridge over lllilouette Creek; 
and ascends the long slope of Glacier Point to the charming new hotel at its summit 
and the world-famed views with wliich this great outlook rewards the visitor (See 
pp. 23, 68. 102, 1(J3). If possible, he should spend a night here; the sunrise over 
the High Sierra and the morning songs of Vernal and Nevada, heard from their 
granite seats below, will make him glad to be alive. The return to Yosemite Village 
should be made by the "Short Trail" (four miles), leading down past Union Point 
and the foot of Sentinel Rock (See p. 31). This trail unfolds changing pictures of 
the Valley itself, and the deep booming of Yosemite Falls, across the way, is never 
to be forgotten. 

Other trail routes back to the Valley are the Ledge Trail and the Pohono Trail. 
The former leads directly down from Glacier Point, two miles; but is not practicable 
for horses, and indeed should not be attempted b\ persons without experience in climb- 
ing. The Pohono Horse Trail offers a splendid scenic trip of twenty miles to Yosem- 
ite Village. Leaving Glacier Point Hotel, it passes Sentinel Dome via the Chin- 
ouapin Road, then turns off to Taft Point and the Fissures, touching the other main 
outlooks on the south rim, and finally reaching Fort Monroe for the return to the 
Valley floor by Wawona Road and Inspiration Point. 

Glacier Point may be reached, or left, not onh b\ the trails, but by automobile 
stages or private cars over the Wawona-Chinquapin Road. This fine scenic route 
is ftdlowed by thousands of motors each season. No one who wants to see the best 
tjiat Yosemite has for the hurried visitor should go away without getting to Glacier 
Point by one of these routes. In time, no doubt, the inclined tunnel will add a 
route protected from snow, making upland winter sports part of every winter visit. 



NOTES FOR Y0SP:MITE VISITORS 



183 



Oil the north ivall of the J' alley, two great routes, Yosemite Falls Trail and 
Snow Creek Trail, lead to the plateau above. The former trail quits the Valley 
floor a quarter of a mile west of \ osemite Lodge, rises a thousand feet over the 
earthquake talus, through a forest of tine golden-cup oaks, to Columbia Rock ; thence 
turning east it traverses a broad ledge, with constantly changing views of the Valley 
and its heights, to the foot of Yosemite Upper Fall, which can be reached by a short 
detour, and finally zigzags up the little glacial cafion west of the fall to the hanging 
valley of Yosemite Creek above. The brow of the fall is easily gained, and is well 
worth a visit for its near view of the falling stream, and of the remarkable jointing 
of the Valley wall, which enabled the old "Yosemite Creek Glacier to dig back this 
deep side caiion in which the Upper Fall hangs (See pp. 80, 81). But the trip is 
not complete till one has climbed still higher, to Yosemite Point (five miles from 
Yosemite Village), and enjoyed the fine glacial landscape modeled by the \'osemite 
Creek Glacier, and the splendid outlook over the Valley and up to the High Sierra 
on the east. 

Three branch trails lead from the head of Yosemite. One is to Eagle Peak, 
highest of the Three Brothers, and thence to the top of El Capitan. A second trail 
leads north, following up Yosemite Creek to Tioga Road, and commonly forms the 
first part of a trip of several dai,s to Ten Lake Basin and other north-side points of 
interest. The third trail offers the best route to the top of North Dome, where per- 
haps the most impressive view of Half Dome may be had. Return to the Valley 
may well be made via the Snow Creek Trail, a total of twenty miles from the morn- 
ing's start at Yosemite Village. 

Snow Creek Trail itself invites the visitor especially to a two-day round trip 
to Tenava Lake, one of the most interesting spots near the Valley. This journey 
should be begun early, as after passing Mirror Lake (where the fine sunrise reflection 
is seen at about 8 o'clock of a 
summer morning), there is a 
2,500-foot climb by a hundred 
switchbacks, and the sun on this 
nortli wall becomes very hot 
before noon. The rising trail 
commands notable views of 
Half Dome and its neighboring 
Quarter Domes, and of the 
glaciated slope of Clouds Rest, 
across Tenaya Canon, as well 
as of Basket Dome on the 
north wall. After reaching the 
rim of the caiion, the climber 
may turn west to North Dome, 
and thence proceed to Yosemite 
Head and descend via the Yo- 
semite Falls Trail, or he may 
continue over the Mt. Watkins 
ridge and along the north rim 
of Tenaya Canon to a junction 
with Tioga Road, which quick- 
ly brings him to Tenaya Lake. 
Here an excellent Lodge offers 
accommodations for interesting 
days of mountain climbing, or a 
starting point for a further 

journey to Toulumne Mead- riimhinK the /.iKi^aK 'I'mil. at the side of Nevada 




184 



YOSEMITK AND ITS IIICII SII.KKA 





SiiKni* I'iiM'. 



i)\vs. Return fnim Tciiaya may \\ell be made by 
l'"ors\ tb Pass Trail, across the ridge east of Clouds 
Rest, and back to tbe V^alley via Nevada Fall. The 
sunny pass (9,000 ft.) is full of glacial autographs. 

Other inviting trails lead from (ilacier Point, 
from Merced Lake, and Tena\a Lake, and Tuolumne 
Meadows, but the ones named ofter the best short 
trips for the visitor who is limited in time. 

Those who wish to go farther afield and visit 
parts of the Yosemite Park not reached by a one-day 
trip from Yosemite Village may obtain information 
at the office of the Superintendent of the Park as to 
trails, outfits, and camping conditions. Much of 
such information may be found in the pamphlet, 
"Rules and Regulations, \'osemite National Park," 
to be had free at the Superintendent's office or by 
mail from the National Park Service, Washington. 
Every visitor should study this booklet. 

Many vacationists spend months in the Park up- 
lands, "hiking" to out-of-the-way points, not so far 
removed from some of the hotels, lodges or camps as 
to be unable to obtain all needful supplies at fre- 
quent intervals. Such mountaineering provides a de- 
lightful vacation at very moderate cost. The Super- 
intendent of the Park and the Yosemite National 
Park Company will furnish information of value to 
those contemplating such an outing. The Yosemite 
National Park Company also furnishes complete 
equipment for independent camping trips, including 
transportation, if desired, with guides and supplies. 

II. TRANSPORTATION. 

For persons coming to Yosemite by rail there are 
two methods of reaching the Valley. By the first, 
the visitor leaves the Southern Pacific or Santa Fe 
Railroad at Merced, 145 miles from San Francisco 
and 330 from Los Angeles, and travels by the Yo- 
semite Valley Railroad 78 miles to El Portal, near 
the western boundary of the Park, whence the Yo- 
semite National Park Compan\ operates an automo- 
bile stage line to Yosemite Village, 12 miles. The 
other route carries him from Merced by the auto 
stages of the Yosemite Stage and Turnpike Company 
to Mariposa V^illage, thence to the Mariposa Big 
Tree Grove, Wawona, and Yosemite. Visitors en- 
tering by either route may leave by the other. 

The Yosemite National Park Company has an 
exclusive concession for other transportation within 
the Park, and maintains excellent service to the Mari- 
posa, Tuolumne and Merced Groves of Big Trees, 
to Hetch Hetchy, and, via Tioga Road, to Tenaya 
Lake, Tuolumne Meadows, Tioga Pass, Mono Lake, 
and Lake Tahoe. The Companv maintains well- 



NOTES FOR VOSEMITE VISITORS 



185 



equipped lodges at Tenava and Merced Lakes, and provides guides and horses for those 
who wish to travel thither by trail. 

Fuller information regarding transportation may be had from either of the com- 
panies named by addressing them at Yosemite, California. 

III. ENTERTAINMENT. 

Next to getting Congress to vote money for improvements, the problem of caring 
properly for the growing tide of visitors has proved the hardest nut for the National 
Park Administration to crack. For the protection of tourists, it must annex strict 
conditions to leases, and limit them in time. These restrictions, with the shortness of 
the mountain season, render any large investment a risk which few capitalists care to 
assume. Hence, in Yosemite as well as in other parks, hotel-camps have been found 
the most economical, as giving the largest amount of accommodations on a moderate 
expenditure. Yosemite has perhaps the most typical and populous camps of this sort 
in any of the National Parks. 

Camp Curry. — This representative Yosemite resort is only less famous than 
Yosemite itself. It has enabled thousands to know Yosemite who, but for its good 
service at moderate prices, would never have seen it. For twenty-two years it has 
been a factor in the entertainment of Yosemite visitors, and during more than half 
that period its efficient organization and the personal supervision of its intelligent 
owners have made it the largest single factor in such hospitality. For the privilege 
of rendering this useful public service it has paid to the Government many thousands 
of dollars in license fees and percentages. 

The Camp was opened by the late David A. Curry on June 1, 189Q. Mr. Curry 
and his wife, both of whom had been students \mder David Starr Jordan in the Uni- 




f'aiiip Curry's Sorlal Life Centers :il>, 



<N (';iiii|i l-'ire. ill this I'nilrt. 



186 



VOSEMITK AND US HKJIl SIKKKA 



versify of Indiana, followed their friend and former teacher to the Coast, where Curry 
was a public school principal, and sometimes assisted Dr. Jordan in managing his 
vacation tours with students. Out of this helpful association grew the plan to estab- 
lish a hotel in tents, in Yosemite Valle\. 

David Curry was a man of integrity, resource, and unflagging energy; but 
while thousands remember him for these sterling qualities, the foundation of his 
great resort, still more, no doubt, affectionately recall "the Stentor's" splendid phvsique 
and voice as he greeted the Overhanging Rock at Glacier Point, overhead, or speeded a 
receding stageload of parting guests to a quick return. He was indeed an ideal Boni- 
face. His enterprise, now kiKJwn in all parts of the world, started with seven tents, 

pitched around a camp fire, — 
the only part of Camp Curry 
that has not been moved. Its 
first guests were a party of 
school teachers. When the sea- 
son ended, the number of tents 
bad increased to twenty-three, 
and the total of those enter- 




Camp <'urry, ilcliKhtflllly si 
nttMl niiioiiu' the piiifN at 1 
foot at (■l:M-icr l*(»ili( one mile 
from llapp> IsU-s. 'I'liis jK tlit' 
larK4*Nt of lilt' tourist t-amps ill 
^OKcmilr \allfy. 'I'lli- little 
l>oiiK*las siiiiirreiN are eoinmim 
tliroimlioiil the Park. 

tained to 2'^K). From this small 
beginning, the Camp has grown 

steadily about its central camp fire, until it now has 650 tents and thirty bungalows, 
accommodating a thousand guests. Its more permanent buildings, which began in 
1900 with the erection of a dining hall, now include a score of roomy structures, 
among which are the central offices, an auditorium much used both as a convention 
hall and ball room; a large and attractive "studio," a billiard hall, bath houses and 
swimming tank, laundry, and a garage which is the largest building in the \'alle\, with 
shelter for nearly two hundred cars. 

"A distinguishing feature of Camp Curry," says Superintendent Lewis of the 
Yosemite Park, in his last annual report, "is its complete electric-cooking installation. 
\Vith one of the largest, if not the largest electro-cooking installations in the State, 
practically all of the cooking and baking for the camp's guests, reaching at times as 
many as 1,100, is done by this most modern and sanitary means." 

The Camp is pliiced in a grove of splendid pines, firs and cedars, a mile below 
Happy Isles, and almost within the shadow of the great wall of Glacier Point, tower- 



NOTES FOR YOSEMITE VISITORS 



187 



^^^ 






ing more than 3,000 feet above. The original center of the Camp's social life, the 
camp fire, still holds its importance as a rendezvous, to which come, night after night, 
throngs of guests, to listen to music by experts, to hear lectures and addresses by dis- 
tinguished speakers, and to see moving-picture shows illustrating the great scenery of 
Yosemite and explaining its origin. Since the death of Mr. Curry in 1917, the Camp 
has been conducted with continued success by Mrs. Curry and her son, Mr. Foster 
Curry, ably assisted by Mr. Wallace B. Curtis, associate manager. 

Camp Curry is a favorite resort for automobilists. Among the causes of this 
popularity are the prizes offered by the Camp in several annual contests, the most 
noteworthy of which are the Economy Runs from Los Angeles to Yosemite, held an- 
nually for the last five years during the first week in May under the sanction and 
rules of the American Automobile Association. This event attracts nation-wide atten- 
tion, as establishing a standard test for automobile mountaineering. 

Yosemite National Park Com- 

pany. — The Yosemite Park, ^K^J 
however, requires more than 
single camps. The Park Ad- 
ministration's problem, there- 
fore, has been to find an organ- 
ization strong enough finan- 
cially to provide, not only the 
larger and varied accommoda- 
tions now needed in the Valley, 
in summer and winter, but also 
to keep pace with the proposed 
road and trail development by 
the Government by establishing 
camps — and hotels, too, if need- 
ed — in other parts of the Park, 
and carrying visitors to them. 
This meant an investment of 
millions, with a probability that 
profits, though assured, might 
be deferred. After several years' 
effort. Director Mather at last 
induced San Francisco and Los 
Angeles business men to form a 
corporation, the Yosemite Na- 
tional Park Company, which 
took over the Desmond conces- 
sions and properties in 1918, in- 
cluding the beautiful new hotel 
at Glacier Point, and the lodges 
at Merced and Tenaya Lakes. 
This company has enlarged Yo- 
semite Lodge by adding many 
bungalows, modernized the Sen- 
tinel Hotel in \'osemite Village. 
and established a lodge at Mari- 
posa Big Tree Grove and at 
Mather Station on the Hetch 



^^'^TW... 




View from 8t<iiif<>ril Point, on tlie Soiitll Kim of Vo- 
seniife <'.-iflon, west of Itriilal Veil Kull. Tliis pic- 
ture is of interest to motorists, Itei'iiiise in the 
ilistanee IliK C»nli Flat Hoael is seen ileseenilini-' to 
tile tloor of Yosemite Valley. Many tliousands of 
ailtoinoliiles enter the Park earh season over this 
steeii old toll road, hiinK on the side of the Kreat 
north wail. It will no doubt be largely su|i|>lanted 
when t'alifornia eoinpletes the State highway now 
buildinK from Mariposa to Kl Portal, thus opening; 
a low-srade road of great seenie value from the 
San .loaquin eountry up the Mereed Kiver level, at 
the bottom of this Korne. and direetly on to the 
Valley tloor. (Compare the lirst illustrati 
in 1 f»semite <';iflon." page «. ) 



ion, "IJawn 



188 



yOSEMITK AMI US lIKill SIKRKA 



Hetchy Railroad; and it is planning further additions. Information as to its excel- 
lent service may be obtained by addressing the compan\- at Yosemite or San Francisco. 

IV. AUTOMOBILES. 

Automobiles are now admitted to Yosemite Park, subject to the simple restric- 
tions printed in the Park Ser\ice pamphlet, Riilts and Regitliilinns. Yosemite Xationnl 
Park, to be had free at the Superintendent's office, or from the National Park Service, 
Washington, D. C. 

Vehicles enter from the south and west ( P'resno, Madera, Merced) via Wawona 
and the Mariposa Big Tree Grove, and follow the \Vawona-Bridal Veil Road down 
the south wall of the Valley; or from Stockton and Modesto, by the Big Oak Flat 
or the Coulterville Road, both of which descend the north wall to the Valley floor. As 
soon as these upland roads are open, in early summer, information of the fact is given 
to the several automobile associations in California, and tourists may learn the state 
of the roads from them, or by addressing the Superintendent's office, Yosemite, Calif. 

F'rom the east, cars enter the Park via Mono Lake and the Tioga Road, not open 
till midsummer. They reach Mono Lake from Lake Tahoe on the north, Tonopah 
on the east, and Bishop on the south, over good State highways. 

Owners who wish to avoid driving their cars over the steep mountain roads may 
ship them from Merced to El Portal, via the Yosemite Valle\' Railroad, at a charge 
of $12.85, including war tax. Manv owners bring in their cars thus, for use in the 
Park. 

The California State Automobile Association maintains a branch office at Yo- 
semite Village, in conjunction with the Park Service Information Bureau. Here the 
best information obtainable regarding road conditions is collected, furnished free to 
motorists, and disseminated through the association's city offices. 

V. NATURE-GUIDE SERVICE. 

A free nature-guide system has been established in \ oseniite V'alley by the Na- 
tional Park Service and the California State Game and Fish Commission. The object 

is to enable visitors to understand and name the 
trees, plants, birds, and other wild things seen 
in the Valley and on the trails. Two well-known 
California naturalists, Dr. H. C. Bryant, of the 
University of California, and Dr. Loye Holmes 
Miller, of the Southern branch of that institu- 
tion, are in charge of the work, delivering illus- 
trated lectures at the different camps, and lead- 
ing parties of visitors afield for intimate stud\' of 
the roadside life. This work is steadily being 
extended to include special excursions for chil- 
dren, and to interest still larger numbers of adults 
by trips to the upland at Glacier Point and else- 
where. This invaluable and popular service is 
free to all who care to take advantage of its in- 
struction and advice. 

VI. LE CONTE MEMORIAL LECTURES. 

The Le Conte Memorial Lectures in Yo- 
semite are established and maintained by the 
Hear anil Tubs, in iHMoiiott)- Canon. Universitv Extension Division of the Universitv 




NOTES FOR YOSEMITE VISITORS 



189 



of California as a memorial to the late Joseph Le Conte, the famous professor of 
geology and natural history in that institution from 1869 to 1901. Specialists in 
geology, biology, zoology, botany, Indian lore, and other scientific subjects illustrated 
in Yosemite will lecture in popular language on their especial themes. Admission is 
free. Dates, speakers, and place are well advertised in the Valley and through the 
public press, or may be learned at the Superintendent's office in the Park, or the 
Extension Division, University of California, Berkeley. 

VII. YOSEMITE MUSEUM. 

The Yosemite Museum, designed to exhibit the history, ethnology, physical 
geography, flora and fauna of the Yosemite region, was opened in the spring of 1921. 
It occupies the former Jorgensen Studio, across the bridge from Yosemite Village. 
Its central feature is a large "relief map" of Yosemite Valley, designed and modeled 
by Ansel F. Hall, author and Park ranger. This useful model was constructed by 
the aid of photography, on a horizontal scale of 1 1 inches to the mile, the work being 
built up of strips of cardboard covered with plaster, carefully shaped by hand, to 
exhibit all contours, elevations, roads, trails, and other Yosemite features. 

The Museum has much else to show, several interesting collections having been 
given or loaned by friends of the National Park Service. These include the notable 
collection of Yosemite Indian baskets assembled by Dr. Sargent of Lodi, the McFar- 
land Indian collection, and a large collection of Yosemite butterflies made by the Cali- 




Kelief >lo«leI of ^'osfiiiite Valle.v, a fe:itilrt> of (hr \osrnii(4- >lust*uiii just op«"neil in the 
former J<ir;;-eii.sen Stllfli(», \4tse111ile. This j-renl "iiia|>" is a faithful reproduetion €>f 
the Valley's contours, designed and modeled by Ansel F. Hall, of the \ational I'ark 
Service. 



190 YOSKMiri, AND US men sii.kka 

fornia Academy of Sciences. Not least interesting among the exhibits promised are 
two venerable stage coaches, one the first stage brought into the Valley, having arrived 
in sections during the late '60's. The other saw regular service in the Bret Harte days 
between Angels Camp and Murphy's. A fine collection of samples of Yosemite 
woods is the gift of a near-by lumber company. 

Thus ri good beginning has been made towards an instructive and comprehensive 
exhibit of the natural science of the Park. 

VIII. YOSEMITE LITERATURE. 

The useful pamphlet, iltiitral Iiifi/rinalirin Rtiinnl'ing Yosemite Sntinntil Park. 
may be had gratis at the (jffice of the Superintendent in \ Dsemite Village, or bv mail 
from the Department of the Interior, Washington, D. C It contains brief notes on 
the Park and its elevations, distances, trails, etc. ; size of Big Trees in Mariposa Grove; 
rules and rates of transportation ; hotels, camps, and camping outfits ; automobile regu- 
lations; and a bibliography of books and magazine articles. Three other government 
pamphlets are for sale at the Superintendent's office: Sketch of Yosemite "Sational 
Park, a popular account of Yosemite geology by F. E. Matthes, U. S. Geological Sur- 
vey, price 10 cents; The Secret of the Big Trees, by Ellsworth Huntington, 5 cents; 
and Forests of Yosemite. Sequoia aiitl Gen. Grant \atioiial Parks, by C L. Hill, 
20 cents. 

A capital Yosemite Guide Book, by Ansel F. Hall, of the National Park Service, 
is to be had at all the studios, price 50 cents. It describes all roads in the Park, with 
the trails south of the Tuolumne. Foley's Yosemite Souvenir, a handy pocket guide, 
may be purchased at J. D. Fole> 's studio in the village. 

Handbook of Yosemite National Park, Ansel F. Hall editor, 1921, is the amplest 
contribution yet made to the popular science side of ^'osemite literature. The book 
mainly comprises essays on the histor\-, Indians, geology, life zones, birds, animals, 
reptiles, fishes, insects, trees. Giant Sequoia, and flowers of the Yosemite Park, written 
by professors in the University of California. Other informing papers on the National 
Park Service and \'osemite Park Administration are contributed by Director Mather 
and Superintendent Lewis, and articles on camping, motoring and photography by 
local experts. 

Arthur C. Pillsbury, Yosemite photographer, to whom the present volume owes 
many of its finest illustrations, has in hand a much-needed book on the wild flowers 
of the Yosemite-Tahoe Sierra. This publication, for which Mr. Pillsbury's accom- 
plished wife is writing the text, will render a service not hitiierto undertaken for lovers 
of the mountain flora b\ showing a very large number of plants in bloom, in color 
plates carefully prepared from nature. Pillsbury is one of the foremost American 
photographers, and these photographic studies of California flowers have for years 
occupied much of his time and interest. Advance orders for "California Mountain 
Flowers in Color" may be placed at the Pillsbury Studio in Yosemite, or at the city 
store, Pillsbury's Pictures, Inc., 501 Geary Street, San Francisco. 

Of the earlier books. Dr. L. H. Bunnell's Discovery of Yosemite. 1880, 4th ed., 
1911, is the best account of the Indian war of 1851 and the visits of the Mariposa 
Battalion. The last edition is handsomely illustrated from photographs bv Bovsen. 
//; the Heart of the Sierras, by J. M. Hutchings, 1885, is a history of the Valley by 
one of its earliest residents. Prof. J. D. \Viiitne>'s The Yosemite Guide-Book, 1871, 
despite its obsolete theory of the Valley's origin, is a very readable and informing essay. 
Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada, 1871, by Clarence King, Whitney's associate 
in the geological survey of California, is one of the best books inspired by the mountains 
of the West. 

Three booklets, Indians of Yosemite J alley . 1904; The Big Trees of California. 
1907, and '/"/(( Yosemite T alley. 1910, by Galen Clark, discoverer of the Mariposa 



NOTES P'OK VOSKMITE VISITORS 191 

Grove, and long the Guardian of Yoseniite under tlie State regime, contain much first- 
hand information. A charming and most valuable description of the Park, with its 
glaciers, past and present; its forests, flowers, birds and animals, is to be found in John 
Muir's Yoseniite, 1912. Muir's other books, Aly First Summer in the Sierrti, 1911 ; 
The Mountains of California, enlarged ed., 1913; and Our National Parks, 1909, are 
also full of Yoseniite. Naturalist and geologist as he was, Mr. Muir, rather than 
Joaquin Miller, has been the real poet of the Sierra, though he wrote in prose. His 
books are after all not so much treatises on its natural history as delightful interpreta- 
tions of its spirit. Yosemite Trails, 1911, by J. Smeaton Chase, is an enjoyable 
account of the Yosemite uplands, especially useful on their trees and flowers. Mr. 
Chase's little manual, Cone-Bearing Trees of the California Mountains, 1911, will 
also be found of service. 

The standard handbook on the botany of the Park is A Yosemite Flora, 1912, by 
Prof. Harvey M. Hall and Carlotta C. Hall. Untechnical in style and excellently 
illustrated, with keys for identifying the trees and flowers, this accurate manual is 
invaluable for field work. Prof. Willis Linn Jepson's The Trees of California, 1909, 
is well planned for laymen's use, and capitalh' illustrated. It is not to be confused 
with his monumental and technical Silva of California, published by the University of 
California. Supplementing these popular handbooks, Sudworth's Forest Trees of the 
Pacific Slope, 1908, published by the U. S. Forest Service, covers the Sierra forests 
with the same thoroughness given to the rest of its subject. 

The eleven volumes of the Sierra Club Bulletin contain a store of papers bv ex- 
perts, covering not only the Yosemite country, but also the great mountains of the Kings 
and Kern River basins. These admirably edited publications, with a considerable 
library of other mountain literature, may be consulted at the Sierra Club's headquarters, 
the Le Conte Memorial Lodge, near Camp Curry. In the general periodicals of this 
country and Europe, Yosemite and Hetch Hetchy Valleys have received more atten- 
tion than any other American scenic district, and many noteworthy articles may be 
found through the periodical indexes and magazine files at the public libraries. 

IX. YOSEMITE PHOTOGRAPHS AND MOVING PICTURES. 

All hotel and camp news-stands in the Park sell original photographs of Yo- 
semite and Hetch Hetchy Valleys, the Big Trees, and High Sierra scenery. Collec- 
tions of the finest photographs may also be found at the studios of the Pillsbury Pic- 
ture Company, J. T. Boysen and other photographers in Yosemite V^illage, and at the 
Camp Curry Studio, where Ralph C. Anderson is the photographer. The last-named 
studio now owns the noteworthy negatives of that artist-photographer, the late George 
Fiske. Photographs and enlargements by Fiske, Boysen, Pillsbury or Anderson, cor- 
responding to their pictures reproduced in this volume, and listed in the Table of 
Illustrations on pp. 11-15, may be had by calling at, or writing to, the studio con- 
cerned. 

Moving pictures showing scenes in all parts of Yosemite National Park, including 
the great cataracts, waterwheels and avalanches in action, and the mountain wild- 
flowers developing from bud to full bloom, attract many visitors to the Pillsbury 
Studio each evening in the season. Motion-picture shows also form a drawing feature 
of the evening camp fire entertainments at Camp Curry and Y'^osemite Lodge. 

' ERRATA. 

On page 114, the notice, "Copyright, Pillsbury," which should appear under the 
illustration, was inadvertently omitted. The fact that this illustration is from a 
copyrighted photograph is indicated by the * in the Table of Illustrations, page 14. 

On page 123, in the second caption, and on page 124, line 1, "Triple Divide 
Peak" should read : Triple Divide Pass. 



INDEX 

Figures in light face type refer to tlie text, those in heavier type to illustrations. 



Aeroplane X'icw of Vosemite Falls, 

SO 
Agassiz Column. 102 
••Ahwahnec-," 32, 34 
"Alabama'" Tvee, 171 
"Apron" and Glacial Tarn, 125 
Aspens, 100 
Automobiles, 57, 58, 61. 62, 64, 

70, 184, 188 
"Back Road," Yosemite. 70 
lianner Peak. 04. 05. 13a, 138 
liashford, Herbert, quoted, 139 
Basket Dome. 183 
Bears, 03, 1S8 
Benson Pass, 114, 146. 130 
Bergschrund. 133-4. l:;» 
Big Oak Flat Koad. 57, 61, 70, 

71, 3, 1N7 
Blue Jav, r.O 

Bloody Cafion, 40. 3«. 58. 138 
Boling. C'apt. lohn. 45, 46, 5« 
Bonneville, Gen. B. L. E., 36 
Boys-en, I. T.. 191 
Bridal Veil Fall. 71 82. 181, 3, 

4, 35. 74, 75 
Bridal Veil — Wawona Road. 181 
Bridal Veil Meadow, 181, 71 
Broderick, Mt.. SO 
Bryant, Dr. H. C, 188 
Bunnell, Dr. L. H., 38, 40, 44, 

511, 190. 
Bunnell Point. 08. 101 
Burroughs. John, quoted. 108 
Burt, Maxwell, quoted, 20 
Buttercups, 35 
Calochortus, 166 
California Kails, 145 
Camp Curry, 185187, 185, 180 
Canon of Yosemite, 69 
Cascade Falls, 74, 73 
Cassiope, 166 

"Cataract of Diamonds." 95 
Cathedral Creek Falls. 144 
Cathedral Peak, 125, 139, 167, 

10, 30, 131, 140 
Cathedral Rocks, 76, 35, 72, 77 
Cathedral Spires, 94. 70, 77 
Cedar, see Incense Cedar 
Chase, J. Smeaton. quoted, 71, 

191 
Cherry Creek, 154 
Chilnualna Falls. 70 
Chinquapin. 71, 113. 182 
Cirques. S4. 133-4. 37. 11 
Clark, Galen, 190. 70. SS. 103 
Clark, Mt., 86, 167, 7, 33. 33, 

35. 33. 113. II.-., 117, 118, 120 
Clark Point, 181 
Clauds Ucst. 62. 100, 112, 182, 

7, 41, 40, OS, 113 
CocksL-omI) Crist. 138 
Colby Mtn.. 31 
Cold Creek Meadows. 145. .50 
Colorado Grand Caiion, 22, 24, 

108 
Columbia Rock, 183 
ConnesF, John, 50 
Conness Creek, 145, 50 
Conness, Mt., 00, 1.30, 130 
Cook, Rev. Joseph, quoted, 3 
Cookstoves on the March, 141 
Coultcrville Road, 57, 72, 30 
Crane Flat, 62 

Craters of .Mono Countv, 133 
Currv, David \.. 185 
Dana, Mt., 141, 167-8, 30, 27, 

50, 01, 03. 125 
—Glacier, 168, 37, 120 
Davis Peak, 122 
Deer, 44 
Devils Postpile, 00 



"Diamoiul Groiq>," 170 
Domes, 93, 55. 101, 104 

Donohue Pass, IIS 

Douglas Fir, see Firs, Douglas 

Eagle Peak, 111, 1S3, 47, 85 

Kagle Peak Trail, 183, 30 

Echo Peak, 13» 

El Capitan, 32, 50, 104, 111, 183, 

■ 4, 31, 33.73, 78, 85, 100 

- — .Moraine. 76. 

El Portal, 57. 58. 72, 73, 184 

Eleanor Canon, 38. 154 

Eleanor, Lake, 1.50 

Eleetra Peak, 128, 133 

Emerald Pool, !I2 

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, quoted 69 

Erythronium, 166 

Evening Primroses, 100 

Fairview Dome, 132, 139, 131 

"Fallen Monarch," 1<(0 

Falls Ridge, 30 

Fernandez Pass, 118, 110, 131, 

133 
Firs. Douglas. 163. 172 
—Red, 148, 161, 166, 168, 109, 

170 
—White, 161, 168-9, 3«, 101 
Fissures, The, 9t, 1S2. 108 
Five-Finger Falls, 150 
Florence Mtn.. 128. 33 
Flowers. Mountain. 28. 166 
Foerster Pass. 118 
Foerster Peak. 12.S. Ill 
Forest Trail, 54 
Forest Fire, 53 
Forests, 28, 159179, 30, 101 
Forsyth Pass, 62, 113, 125, 168 
Forsyth Pass Trail, 184 
"Four Guardsmen," 51 
Eraser, Monroe, 37 
Gale Peak, 110. 131 
Gannett, Dr. Ilenrv. c}Uoted, 134 
Geikie, Sir .\rchibald, 133 
"General Grant," Mariposa Grove, 

51; Gen. Grant National Park, 

174 
"General Sherman" Mariposa 

Grove, 51; Sequoia National 

Park, 173 
Gibbs, Mt., 141, 167-8, 30, 01, 

125 
Glaciers, 24, 78. 79, 80, 82, 133, 

134, 120, 139 
134 Glacier Landscapes. 22. 23 
Glacier National Park, 22 
Glacier Point, 86, 93, lOS, 111, 

112, 113. 122, 182, 186, 9. 23 

OS. 92. 103, 113. 113, 114 
Glacier Point Tunnel, proposed, 

114, 182 
Glen .\ulin, 126, 141 
Golden-cup Oak, see Oaks 
"Governor Tod" Group, 172 
Grand Mountain, 39 
Granite Benches, 34, 100, 34, 101, 

133 
Greeley, Horace, quoted, 69 
"Grizzly Giant," 53. 175 
Groveland, 71 
Guides, 126, 185 
Half Dome, 93, 94, 111, 112, 

1S2, 183, 9, 32, 41, 4(i. tiO. S5. 

93, 101, 102. 103, 107, 109 
Mall, .\nsel 1".. 189, 190 
Hall. H. .\1. and C. C. 164, 191 
"Happv Hours" (Deer), 44 
Happy'lsles, 62. 76, 181, 1S6, 50. 

94 
Harden Lake Trail, 126, 156 
Ilendocks, Mountain, 145, 164-5, 

166, 145 



Hetch Helchv. 25, 79. 80. 146- 
154. 173. 184, 19, 139, 153, 
. 154, 1.55. 1.50. 157 

Hetch lletchv Railroad, 155, 156 
Hoffman, .Mt'., 84, 104, 132, 20, 

29, 37, 57. 112 
Illilouette Canon, 188 
lUilouette Creek, 182 
Illilouette Fall, 181, 182, 87 
Illilouette Watershed, 86. 113 
Incense Cedar. 162. 172 
ln<lians. Vosemite. 32. 34. 42, 45- 

50, 43. 4S 
— Indian Basket Maker, 48 
— Indian .\corn Cache, 38 
— Indian Grist Mill, 40 
— Indian collection, McFarland. 

189 
Information Bureau, 188 
Inspiration Point, 69-71, 181, 35 
Jack Main Caiion, lH 
Jepson, Prof., W. E., 174, 191 
Jeffery Pine, see Pines, Jcflfery 
"Jointing," 81 
Johnson, Willard, 134 
Jordan, David Starr, 185 
Juniper, 105 
Kellogg Oak, see Oaks 
King, Clarence, 54, 81, 190 
King. .Mt. Starr, see Starr King 

.Mt. 
"King of the Forest," tree, 176-9, 

178 
Kolana Rock, 19. 153, 1.57 
Kuna Crest. 30. 39, 01. 130, 134 
Lakes, glacial, 25. 28. 79-81. 12S 
Lake Eleanor. 155, 156, 150 
Lake Harriet. 118 
Lake Merced, 99 
Lake Tahoe, 61, 07 
Lambert Dome, 139, 167, .50 

140 
Ledge Trail, 1X2 
Lembert, John Baptist, 140 
Le Conte 'Falls, 144 
Le Conte Memorial Lectures, 188 
Le Conte Memorial, Lodge. 114, 

90 
Leopard Lily. 70 
Leevining Canon. 01. 03 
Lewis, VV. B., 62, 64, 66, 74, 181, 

quoted 186, 33. 183 
Liberty Cap. 93. 33. 95 
Literature, "i'osemite. 190 
Little Hetch lletchv, 1.53 
Little Yosemite, 182, 33, 95, 98, 

101 
Lodgepole Pine, see Pine. 
Long Mtn., 34 

Los Angeles Water Supply, 154 
Lost .\rrow, 94, S3 
Lost Arrow Trail. 81 
Lvell Fork of Tuolumne. 21, 120 
L'vell Glacier. 137, 130 
Lvell. ,Mt., 139, 144. 7. 31. 33, 

118. 124. 127. 13.5, 137, 13S 
Lvman, Prof. W. D., (|Uoted, 25 
Mammoth Peak, 167-8, 30, 30, 

58 
"Mariposa Battalion," 4 0, 190 
Mariposa-El Portal Road, 72 
Mariposa Grove, 50, 54, 57, 69, 

163, 184, 187, see Sequoia 
Mariposa Lily, 177 
Mariposa Village, 184 
M.ither Station. 156 
Mather. Stephen T., 60, 108, 187, 

190 
Matterhorn Caiion, 144, 146, 133, 

1.30 
Matterhorn Peak, 14 6, 133 



INDEX 



193 



Matthes, Francois E., 106, 134, 

190 
Maul Oak, see under Oaks 
"McKinlev" tree. 158 
McClure Fork of Merced River, G 
McClure, Mt., 128, SI _ _ 
Merced Carion, 57. 62, ~^, 74, 

181. 23. 34, SO, 11.S 
Merced Glacier, 93, 1S2, J(H 
Merced Grove, 30, 193 
Merced Lake, 92, 116. 99, 101 
Merced Pass, 118. 121 
Merced Range. 86. 22, 11.S 
Merced River, 46, 52 aS. 73. 79. 

182. 4, 6, S, 23, 33, 44, 68, 6», 
72. 94, 107 

Merced Watershed. 23 

Miller. D, Loye Holmes, 188 

Miller Lake, 14 5 

Minarets, 65 

Mirror Lake, 102. 181. 183, 43. 

100 
Mono Craters, 132 
Mono Lake, 141, 184. 02 
Mono Pass; 37. 36, .'iS, 124 
Moraine Meadows, 121 
Muir Gorge, 14 4-5, 39, 150, 151 
Muir, John, 30, 52, 54, 81. 88, 

111. "128. 135. 173, 191, 52 
Muir Trail. 137 
Nature-Guide Service, 188 
National Park Service. 184, 188. 

190 
Nevada Fall, 62, 64, 8S. 181. 182. 

23, 4S, 90, 90, 97, 112. 182 
"New England Bridge,'" 70 
New York Water Project, 154 
North Dome, 111, 112, 183. 8. 

41, 50, 78 
North Road, 181 
Oaks, black (Kellogg), 152, 172-3, 

79, 168 
— Maul, Golden Cup, or Caiion 

live, 172-3. 177 
Panorama Point, 113, 182 
Pardee. Gov, Geo. C, 52 
Parsons Peak, 12S, 120 
Parsons, Edward T., 141 
Parsons Memorial Lodge, 135, 

141 
Passes, 133. 116, 117, 118, 120 3 
Pate Valley. 126 
Photographs. 191 
Pillsbury, Arthur C. 190 
Pinchat, Gifford, 52 
Pines, Teffrev. 160. 166, 169-70, 

95. i05. i«2, 164 
— Lodgepole or Tamarck, 125, 

161, 20, 167 
—Sugar. 160. 166. 169. 160, 

161, 163 
— Western White, 166, 168 
— Western Yellow, 160. 166, 169 
—White-bark. 164 
Piute Mountain. 148. 134 
Pleasant Valley, 146 
Pohono, see Bridal \'eil Fall 
Pohono Trail, 113, 182. 3.". 100 
Polemonium, 42 
Polly Dome, 16 
Potter Point, 120 
Primrose, E\ening, 109 
Ragged Peak. 60 
Rancheria Creek, 148, 152 
Rancheria Mtn., 146, 148 
Rangers' Club Hou^e, lOS 
Rainier National Park, 22, 25 
Red Fir, see Firs 
Red Peak, 121 
Regulation Peak, 17 
Return Creek Canon, 126 
Ritter, Mt,, 65, 1.38 
Roads, 57. 60. 66. 71, 181 
Rodgers Lake. 14 6. 17, 149 
Rodgers Peak, 128. 122 
Roosevelt, Theodore, 52. 52 



Roval Arches, 94, 150. 8, 41, 45, 

60, 85 
Ruskin, John, auoted, 17 
San Francisco Water and Power 

Project, 148-156 
Santa Fe Railroad, 184 
Sardine Lake, 37 
Saurian Crest, 28 
.Savage, Maj. James D., 36. 42. 

44, 45 
Seavev Pass, 134 
Sentinel Dome. 111. 2, 104. 105 
Sentinel Hotel, 187 
Sentinel Rock, 94, 182, IS, 31. 

100 
Sequoias. 17, 30, 173-179, 56, 

135 

— Mariposa Grove, 51, 135, 176, 
170 

— Merced Grave. 163, 30 

— Tuolumne Grove, 156, 163, 
178, 180 

Service. Robert W. (|uuted, 7 

"Short Trail," 182, 100 

Sierra Club. 52. 134-6. 139. 144, 
191, 7, 11. 137. 1.12 

Smedberg Lake, 146. 148 

Smith Peak. 130 

Snow Creek Falls. 26 

Snow Creek Trail, 61, 126, 183 

Snow Flat, 37 

Snow Plant, 136 

Soda Springs, 64, 135, 139, 141, 
140 

Southern Pacific Railroad, 184 

Spermophiles, 162 

Stanford Point, 1S7 

Starr King. Mt.. 86, 113, 22. .32. 
84, 119, 121 

Smnmer Snowfields, 118 

Sterling. Geo., quoted. 135 

Sunrise Trail. .'54 

Tahoe. Lake. 61. 62. 67 

Tamarack Pine, see Pines. Lodge- 
pole or Tamarack 

Ten Lake Basin. 183. 57 

Taft Point, 182 

Tamarack Pine, see Pine. Lodge 
pole 

Tenaya Canon, 100, 104. 183. 41 

46, 55, 93, 103, 112 
Tenaya Creek, 100. 102, 40 
Tenaya Glacier. 104 

Tenaya, Indian Chief, 36, 4 2. 46 

50 
Tenaya Lake, 48, 49, 62, 64, 102 

184, 16, 38, 49. 59. 102, 103 
Tenaya Lake Trail, 26 
Tenaya Peak, 29, 38 
Ten Lake Basin, 57 
Three Brothers, 46, 94, 111, 183, 

47, 78 

Thousand Island Lake, 64 

Tilden Lake, 28 

Till Till Creek, 152. 157 

Tioga Lake, 16S. 27 

Tioga Pass, 60. 184. 61 

Tioga Road, 36. 40. 61. 62. 139, 

140. 183, 16, 49, 57, 39, 61, 

63. 67 
Tower Peak, 28 
Trails, 112, 116, 124-133, 181-4 

— Forsyth Pass Trail, 184 
— Harden Lake Trail, 126 

— Ledge Trail, 182 

— Long Trail, 111 

—Pohono Trail, 71, 111, 113, 182 

— "Mift Trail," 181 

—■■Short Trail," 100 

—Snow Creek Trail, 183 

— Sunrise Trail, 54 

— Yosemite Pass Trail, 184 

Transportation, 184 

Triple Divide Peak. 118, 111, 

123 
Trout. 128-130. 182 
Tueeulala Falls, 153 



Tuolumne Canon. 104, 126, 139. 

140, 144, 146, 156, 158, 22, 

39, 57, 138, 143, 150 
Tuolumne Falls. 145. 142 
Tuolumne Glacier, 100. 104 
Tuolumne Meadows, 135, 141, 

167, 183, 184, 49, 54, 50, 131, 

140 
Tuolumne Pass, 116 
Tuolumne Peak, 29 
Tuolumne River. 52. 140. 144, 

150. 154, 120, 138, 140, 150. 

151 
■•Tutockahnulah." 32, 34 
Twin Lake, 2.S 
■'Twins." The. ISO 
"L'mbrella Tree." 48 
Unicorn Peak, 29, 129 
Union Point. 93, 182, 31 
University of California. IRS 
Van Dyke. Henry, quoted. 17 
Vernal Fall, 62. 88. 92. 181. 182. 

23, 89, 01, 112 
X'irginia Caiion, 145, 56 
\;ogelsang Pass, 128, 117, 120 
X'olunteer Peak, 146 
Walker, Capt. Jos, R,, 36-40 
Walker Lake, 36 
Wapama Falls. 1*53, 158 
Washburn Lake, 92.129. 182.24, 

113 
Washington Column, 94. 8, 41 
Waterfalls, 24, 25. 30. 112 
Waterwheel Falls, 125, 145, 144, 

145, 146, 147 
Waterwheel Trail, 126 
Watkins, Mt., 100, 183. 43 
Wawona, 57, 69, 70, ."3, 70 
—Road. 71. 120, 182 
Western Yellow Pine, see Pines, 

Western Yellow 
Wheeler, Benjamin Ide, 52 
White - bark Pine, see Pines, 

White-bark 
White Cascade, 145, 140 
White Fir. see Firs 
Whitney, Tosiah D,, 78, 81, 190 
Wildcat Point, 141 
Wild flowers, 28, 25, 45 
Williams Bute, 36 
Wilson Creek Canon. 146. 136 
Winter Mountaineering, 120-4 
Winter Sports in Yosemite, 74 
Wordsworth, William, quoted, 69, 

111 
Yellow pine, see Pines, Western 

yellow 
Yellowstone National Park, 22 
Yosemite, name, 4 4 
—Creek, 84, 86, 183 
—Falls, 84, 111. 181. 183, 68. 

81. 82, 83, 84, 86, 88 
—Falls Trail, 183, 32, 80 
—Glacier, 78-81 
—Lake, 82 
— Literature, 190 
—Lodge, 183. 187 
—Museum, 189 
— Natio.nal Park, 44, 50-53 

Congressional appropriations 

for. 64. 66 
Roads. 56-64 
Visitors to, 57, 64 
— National Park Company, 184. 

187-8 
— Photographs and Moving Pic- 
tures. 191 
—Point. 93. Ill, 183, 83, 85 
— Stage and Turnpike Co,, 184 
—Trail. 83 

—Valley. 25. 50, 52, 58, 69, 70, 
76, 112, 113, 128, 2, 31, 32, 
35, 85, 189 
—Valley Railroad, 57, 74, 184, 

188 
—Village, 57, 74, 118, 184, 85 
Young Lake, 60 
Zigzag Trail, 182, 183. 




KUOM YOSEMITK VALLKY TO WAWONA AND THE MAUIl'Ot^A CKOVt;. 



Mt. Raymond (8,n4S ft,). 

Signal Peak (7.079). 

Wawona Point. 

Mariposa Grove. 

Wawona. 

Fish Hatchery. 

Eight Mile. 

Eleven Mile. 

Chinquapin. 

Grouse. Creek. 

Fort Monroe. 

Inspiration Point. 

Artist Point. 

Old Inspiration I'oint. 

Stanford Point. 

Crocker l*oint. 



17. Dewey Point. 

IS. Cathedral Rocks. 

11). I'athedral Spires. 

20. Taft Point. 

21. Sentinel Rock. 

22. Sentinel Dome. 

23. Union Point. 

24. Glacier Point. 

25. Sentinel Hotel, Yosemite Village. 

26. Site of proposed new Hotel. 

27. Three Brothers. 

2S. Foot of "Short Trail" to Glacier Point. 

29. El Capitan. 

30. Lookout Point. 

31. Ostrander Lake. 

32. Crescent Lake. 



THE LEIGMTON PRESS 
SAN FRANCISCO 



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Advertisements 

Following the precedent of many foreign hand- 
books for travelers, a few advertisements have been 
accepted from establishments of the highest class, 
as containing information of interest to tourists. 



CAMP CURR.Y 

THE PIONEER 

YOSEMITE CAMP 



ESTABLISHED 
I8S9 



EXCELS IN 

LOCATION— Nearest the principal trails 
and chief points of interest. 

CUISINE — Sanitary kitchen, all white 
crew. 

ACCOMMODATIONS— Clean, comfort- 
able, up-to-date. 

HOSPITALITY — Best entertainment, 

camp-fire, dancing; and 
THE PERSONAL MANAGEMENT OF 

THE OWNERS. 

Tents — Modern hotel rooms under canvas. 

Buiiffaloivs — Most comfortable in Yosem- 
ite. Electric light and heat, private 
baths, sanitary plumbing. 

Laundry — Modern and complete. 

Baths — Two well-equipped bath houses; 
also large swimming tank, clean and 
heated. 

Studio — Unique in Yosemite. Full stock 
of views, books, curios, Indian blank- 
ets, Eastman kodak supplies. Devel- 
oping and printing. Complete dark 
room. 

Auditorium— Beu in Valley for Conven- 
tions or Dancing. Hardwood floor. 
Excellent music. 

Garage — Largest in Yosemite. 

For literature and rates address 

The Curry Camping Co., 



CAMP CURRY, 
CALIFORNIA 



^ 




(Vhere fSe f/re > , . 

arxf f/te Sfentor Calh" 




3^fie '/Veco Camp Curri/ 
Garage 




Zfent Streets Paved with Neeates frof*> tfie Pines 



PILLSBURY'S PICTURES, Inc. 

San Frattcisco Store Yosemite Studio Pasadena Store 

50/ GearTsUet Yosemite Village 345 E. Colorado St. 

Laj-gest Collection of Scenic Negatives on Pacific Coast 

KODAK AGENCY FINISHING PICTURE FRAMING 

Motion Pidures 

of Yosemite and the 

High Sierra 

a7iil of the 

Mountain Wild Flowers 
Opening and Growing, 

at the 
YOSEMITE STUDIO 
-— s««i open April to October 

"PILLSBURY" MEANS THE BEST in photography 





The Leighton Press 

PRINTERS & PUBLISHERS 



PRIVATE EDITIONS - PERIODICALS .-. 
ADVERTISING LITERATURE 



SI6 Mission St. 



San yrana'sco, Cal. 



ftv 



J^ 



Of course 



U 



oii II uisit San Francisco 



That fascinating, cosmopolitan city by 
J the Western sea, offers the delights of 
the Old as well as the New World. 

THE PALACE 

"San Francisco's Historic Hotel" 

provides every luxury of modem mind 

A cuisine unsurpassed throughout the length and 
breadth of the land. 

An evening dansant, with an orchestra famed from 
coast to coast. 

An information bureau that lifts the burden of 
travel from the shoulders of the traveler — reserva- 
tions, tickets, etc. 

A Nursery where baby may be left for any length 
of time — day or night. A garage within a stone's 

throw of the New Mont' 
gomery Street entrance. 

COMFORT 
LUXURY 
SAFETY 

The Palace for Service 

Jllanagemen! of 
HALSEY E.MANWARING 




Nearly 100,000 eopIeH of Jiihn II. \A illianiN' linokN nhoiit tbe Kreat nuiiiiitiiinK of the 
A\"t».st hnve alr«*a<ly bet-n noIiI. 

Yosemite and its High Sierra 

Xeiv edition, revised and tir^'atJy i-nlnrscd. I-arfte s^o, \^illi r(»lori'd f rontlsiiiere and 

more than '2TAi lUu.strntion halftones preHentfng the 

VoNenilte I'ark as a whitle. 

EDITION DE I.l XE, In ooze leather, watered lininKs. cill top: bo\ed, $.'..00 net: ex- 
IiresH 20 eents. LIIIKAItA EDITION, in .stout art erash. »ith color tip. $:<.(M) net: 
expreHs iiO eent^. XEAA'S-STAXD EDITIOX, in hea^-y ornamental i»:iper covers. 
92.00 net; express Itf centN. 

"The most adequate volume on Yosemite." — St. Louis Republic. 

"Of great value to teachers." — Educational Foundations. 

"As the first attempt to describe tlie Yosemite National Park in full with the 
aid of splendid illustrations, it will be welcomed by those who know Mr. 
Williams' books on the mountains of the Northwest." — San Francisco Chronicle. 

"My years of intimate acquaintance with this sublime park land have made 
me wish that someone would furnish us with just the sort of book you have so 
happily brought forth, — popular, inexpensive, replete with the very best illustra- 
tions, and a perfect mine of information." — H'. E. Colby, Secretary Sierra Club. 

"One of the handsomest books ever published about the grandeur and beauty 
of great mountains. It is efficient, calm, manly, and warmed by a simple friend- 
liness that is most pleasing. Williams makes all his points plain ; he brings Yosem- 
ite to thousands who could not go to Yosemite." — Travel Magazine. 

The Mountain That Was "God" 

Xeiv and enlnr^xeil edition. rarj:;e s^ o., ^vith HlO illustr.'ilions ( S in oolorNl of Mt. 
Rainier ( I'iK-oina t. it.s Klai-ier.s, ennoiiM, fore.stN :ind upland lliMver "parks.** 

The Guardians of the Columbia 

I.nrg^e Kvo., ivitli 210 illu.str:itions (8 in colors) of >lt. Hood, >It. Adams and Mt. St. 
Helens, and of the Colaniliia River and its forests. 

IXIFORM STYLES AXD PRICES: 

LIBRARY EDITIOV, in stout art crash. .tll.."0 net: express 1<! cents. XEWS-STA.\D 
EDITIOX, in heavy extension paper c<»\ers, $0.7.% net: postage 10 cent**. 

"There is an attractive boldness about the title, 'The Mountain That Was 
"God," ' which goes with John H. Williams' illustrated book on Mt. Tacoma, 
blunderingly, though officially, called Rainier. Mr. Williams has done his duty 
\ery thoroughly by the great landmark of which he writes. Of course, it is to the 
Indians and their legends that he owes his title." — Neic York JForld. 

"In Mr. John H. Williams' fascinating new book about the majestic West- 
ern mountains ("The Guardians of the Columbia") the author's descriptive 
power rises equal to his task of painting on a grand scale what the hand of God 
has so magnificently laid out. He sees the geological ages at work uplifting here 
an ocean bed, here an island, folding the earth's crust, molding colossal mountain 
barriers, planting the forests. * * * Fascinating are the Indian legends where- 
by the bronze aborigines attempted to account for the marvels that thrilled their 
primitive imagination. Especially interesting is the story of the birth of the great 
mountains, told in the author's eloquent and graphic text. — Louisville Courier- 
Journal. 



"No other Pacific Const l»*>ok has such a prtuliKal yet representative nealth of 

pictures * * * 31uch of the present edition is ne«'» and Mr. AVilllains* notes 

are so adniirnhle that they really add to one's better understanding; of 

the history of the 'Oregon country'/* — The Orep;onian. Portland. 

The Canoe and the Saddle 

lly THKOUORE \V1.\THI«»)I' 

To which are now tir.st added his WESTERX I.ETTP^RS A>D JOURNALS. Edited 
with all Introduction and Xote.s liy John H. A\ illiniiis. R4»yal Svo.. with 1(> plates 
in color, -IS halftones, and tiO text etchini^s. lloiin<I in half iiarchnient (lentlier); 
gilt toil; boxed. I'rice. .*.".04» net. Three-quarters morocco, gilt extra, $10.00. 
Three-quarters levant, full gilt, $12.50. By express, 30 cents extra. 

"Mr. Willi<ams has rendered a distinct service to American letters and 
history." — New York Times. 

"Theodore Winthrop's 'The Canoe and the Saddle' is a recognized 
classic of frontier adventure. With his Western journals and letters, which have 
been added to this reprint, it enhances greatly the interest that attaches to the ad- 
venturous spirit of the attractive author. Every care has been expended by 
Mr. Williams in preparing this new edition, which is a perfect record of one 
who, though begotten by New England, is a hero to the now populous North- 
west, which he so ably and fascinatingly interpreted in its pioneer days." — 
The Transcript, Boston. 

"A noteworthy edition of a charming book, in which Winthrop broke what 
was then virgin soil. The text is of historical importance ; the illustrations are 
works of art." — The Sun, New York. 

" 'The Canoe and Saddle,' Winthrop's treasure-house of information con- 
cerning Indian life and the ways of the wilderness frontier, was frequently repub- 
lished during the thirty years following its first appearance in 1862; but since out 
of print, it stood in danger of being forgotten by all except students of the his- 
tory of the West. Mr. Williams, himself an authority on that history, and a 
valuable contributor to its literature, deserves thanks for this carefully edited, 
well printed, and capitally illustrated new issue of the work. It is not a mere 
reprint, but a definite edition expertly annotated. — New York Tribune. 

" 'Canoe and Saddle' is of permanent interest and value as a nature book, 
a picturesque portrayal of frontier life and of the Indian tribes. Long out of 
print, its republication in this fine edition fittingly commemorates the accom- 
plished writer and gallant soldier who fell at Great Bethel." — The North Amer- 
ican, Philadelphia. 

"Winthrop's great work is not of the kind that one readily forgets, but it 
is none the less pleasant to be reminded of its value by such an edition as has 
been given to us by Mr. John H. Williams. This substantial volume is not only 
a reprint of the original, but the editor has wisely included Winthrop's letters 
and journals. The result is an historical document of the highest value and 
in its most attractive form. Mr. Williams has been particularly fortunate in 
his annotations and his illustrations. Mr. Williams is to be congratulated upon 
the successful performance of a work valuable alike to American history and to 
that section with which it deals." — The Argonaut, San Francisco. 

John H. Williams, Publisher, San Francisco 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



017 169 758 A 



